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While I'm usually fanatic about number agreement (like not using "they" as a gender-netural third-person-singular pronoun in English), Example #1 actually doesn't bother me. I think it's because I'...
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#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2019-12-13T12:00:00Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/4098 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T01:58:23Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/4098 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
While I'm usually fanatic about number agreement (like not using "they" as a gender-netural third-person-singular pronoun in English), Example #1 actually doesn't bother me. I think it's because I'm reading "ABC" as a collective noun, referring to all the staffers (who are the ones who actually have the opinions, did the deeds, and won the awards). "ABC is expanding our mission" is sort of short for "ABC's executives, staff members, and volunteers are expanding the mission of the organization." Otherwise you start running into the [Rufus Xavier Sasparilla](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg9MKQ1OYCg) problem. [The link is to a "Schoolhouse Rock" cartoon short explaining what pronouns are and how they are useful, using the example of three people with extremely long names.] I edit a lot of business copy, and I see the "ABC is expanding our mission" construction all the time, so it wouldn't make me blink.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2011-09-30T19:22:52Z (over 12 years ago)
Original score: 4