| 词组 | each |
| 释义 | each There are a number of niggling problems about each and its agreement with either verb or pronoun. These problems mostly were discovered in the 18th century, when the conflict of grammatical agreement and notional agreement first began to trouble grammarians. We will take up a few of these separately. See also agreement: indefinite pronouns. 1. Each, pronoun, as simple subject. The rule of thumb from the 18th century on has been that each takes a singular verb. This is the usual case in modern practice: • ... each is believed capable of producing 10,000 barrels —Annual Report, Phillips Petroleum Co., 1970 • ... for each who achieves it —Times Literary Supp., 28 Mar. 1968 • Each was alert to snatch any advantage —Dictionary of American Biography, 1928 • Each derives its authority directly from the Constitution —N.Y. Times Mag., 27 Feb. 1955 Notional agreement interferes with the singularity of each only when each has a plural antecedent. The notional plurality may then bring a plural verb into use: • ... in Naples a number of families will join in a carriage, and each have their own emblazoned doors — The Journals of Arnold Bennett, ed. Frank Swinner-ton, 1954 • ... the quarrel scene between the two leaders was superbly conducted and each die in the grand manner —T. C. Worsley, Britain To-Day, June 1953 • ... Antony in Antony and Cleopatra and Aecius in Valentinian Each command a subordinate — Murray Abend, Notes and Queries, 16 Aug. 1952 • Both KB Moulding and Driwood Moulding offer Each are assembled of at least three mouldings —Lawrence Grow, The Old House Catalogue, 1976 Sticklers for grammatical agreement will insist on a singular verb. The singular is more usual and will not attract attention. 2. Each, adjective, modifying a singular noun subject. The singular verb is regularly used: • Each Division brings to bear... its special expertise —Annual Report, CPC International, 1970 • ... each sex is distinguished from the other — Stephanie Dudek, Psychology Today, May 1971 • ... a general belief that each person possesses four souls —Sir James G. Frazer, Aftermath, 1937 3. Each, pronoun, followed by a phrase introduced by of. Since the of phrase always contains a plural noun or pronoun, notional plurality is strong in these constructions. Those who always insist on grammatical agreement insist on the singular verb, but Copperud 1970, ■1980 notes that the commentators he summarizes are evenly split on the propriety of the plural verb. Copperud also says that instances of each (of) with a plural verb are increasing in carefully edited prose—in other words, notional agreement appears to be gaining ground over grammatical agreement. Evidence in the Merriam- Webster files shows actual usage to be about as evenly split as Copperud's commentators. First a few examples with singular verbs: • Each of them is a decisive way —Ronald Reagan, Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation, 1984 • Each of the articles ... relates to one central theme —T. George Harris, Psychology Today, May 1971 • ... but each of the other high roads has much to make its traverse exciting —Alicita and Warren Hamilton, Ford Times, July 1954 • But each of us harbors our own special interests — Tom Lewis, Harper's Weekly, 26 July 1976 • And each of them was busy in arranging their particular concerns —Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, 1811 (in Hodgson 1889) Note the contrast in possessive pronouns in the last three citations; there is more on pronoun agreement in section 5 below. Now some plural examples: • We still record our observations in "bits of data", each of which do possess the character of simple location —Allen Aardsma, Undergraduate Jour, of Philosophy, May 1969 • He usually has about eight pupils, each of whom pay about $200 a month —Time, 3 June 1946 • Each of his ideas are stated —Down Beat, 20 Oct. 1950 • Each of these texts have been further validated — Training Manual for Auxiliary Firemen, 1942 • Each of Mr. Fugard's plays ... are themselves acts of contrition —Mel Gussow, N.Y. Times, cited in Simon 1980 It seems likely that notional agreement is the decisive force in most of these examples, singular and plural. If you are thinking of each as individualizing, you will use the singular verb; if you think of it as collecting, you will use the plural. Many writers use the idiomatically common pattern of a singular verb and a succeeding plural pronoun. 4. Each, adjective, following a plural noun subject. The usage panel of Heritage 1969 rejected "they each have large followings" by a whopping 95 percent. They were marching alone, apparently; Copperud 1970, 1980 cites his commentators (except the panel) as accepting the plural verb, while Heritage 1982, Chambers 1985, Johnson 1982, Freeman 1983, and Bernstein 1958 all allow it. Heritage 1982 also approves the plural pronoun in such instances. The examples of this construction in our files are plural: • ... they each have too many possible meanings — Linda Costigan Lederman, New Dimensions, 1977 • Our containerboard mills each conduct five-year programs—Annual Report, Owens-Illinois, 1970 • If we and our Atlantic community partners each take our respective share —Dean Acheson, U.S. Dept. of State Bulletin, 12 June 1950 • ... these and millions of other organized groups each possess their own individuality —Pitirim A. Sorokin, Society, Culture, and Personality: Their Structure and Dynamics, 1947 • Gates and Mifflin each publicly avowed their entire confidence in Washington —Horace E. Scudder, George Washington, 1885 5. Pronoun reference. It is abundantly clear that each shares with many indefinite pronouns the tendency to take a plural pronoun in reference, and equally clear that notional agreement rules in most instances, singular or plural. Nonetheless, use of a plural pronoun in reference to each has often been censured, for example by Lurie 1927, Follett 1966, Phythian 1979, and Heritage 1982. Let us begin with one of the earliest examples to be censured; Addison wrote it and Campbell 1776 rejected it: • Each of the sexes should keep within its particular bounds, and content themselves to exult within their respective districts —The Spectator, No. 505 Here we can see Addison's mind shifting from considering the two groups separately to considering them collectively. Campbell insists on grammatical agreement; a more reasonable objection would be to the shift from singular to plural in the same sentence. Addison's contemporaries probably never noticed. Modern instances can be found where such a shift takes place in adjacent sentences: • These nations are in every way equal to each other. Each is responsible for its own home and foreign policy. But they are also parts of a greater whole —Lord Salisbury, quoted in British Information Services, 14 Apr. 1952 Usually, however, a writer or speaker tends to maintain either the singular or the plural notion without sudden shifts. Frequently the notion is singular: • Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings — Constitution of the United States, 1787 • ... each having its own council and academic board and controlling its own teaching —Sir James Mount-ford, British Universities, 1966 • The romanticist and the realist try to capture them, each in his own way —Leacock 1943 • ... each of them should feel ashamed for the rest of his natural life for his part in this —William H. Lundquist, letter to the editor, Newsweek, 14 July 1952 • ... to each according to his weakness and his heart's desire —Glenway Wescott, Prose, Fall 1971 We even find George Bernard Shaw thinking of individual actors of both sexes: • Each claimed as of right the part which came nearest to his or her speciality; and each played all his or her parts in exactly the same way —Preface, The Shaw-Terry Letters, 1931 More often, however, the notion seems to be plural: • Thirteen of these unfortunate rivals entered the lists; and each of them in their turn paid the Forfeiture of their lives —William Melmoth, translation of Cicero's Letters, 1753 (in Baker 1770) • I found myself that same morning with three or four of the groundkeepers, each of us with a pick or shovel on our shoulders —E. L. Doctorow, Loon Lake, 1979 • ... but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves —Philippians 2:3 (AV), 1611 • Each in their own way, the Indians, Indo-Chinese and Indonesians, were asking —Time, 3 Dec. 1945 • ... the independence of the tribes was marked by their peculiar dialects; but each, after their own, allowed a just preference —Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1788 • Each of these people undoubtedly modified Latin in accordance with their own speech habits —Albert C. Baugh, A History of the English Language, 2d ed., 1951 • Each in their way broke fresh ground —Times Literary Supp., 5 Nov. 1971 • ... each candidate had to overcome special barriers thrown in their way by local bigots —New Republic, 25 May 1953 Note that each, like other indefinite pronouns, partakes of that idiomatic construction in which the pronoun takes a singular verb but a plural pronoun: • And each of them was busy in arranging their particular concerns, and endeavoring, by placing around them their books and other possessions —Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, 1811 (in Hodgson 1889) • Each woman enrolled in the WAAC has postponed thé induction of a man since they are counted as a man in computing ... manpower requirements — George C. Marshall, The United States at War, 8 Sept. 1943 • Each, first of all, has to provide their home listeners with the best possible service —Robert McCall, BBC Year Book 1952 In pronoun reference to each, trust notional agreement. 6. Each, pronoun, referring to a plural subject, but following the verb. Copperud 1970 reports the agreement of Fowler 1965 and Bernstein 1965 that when each follows the verb, the reference to the subject should be singular; Copperud gives this example: • We are each responsible for his own family. Not only does the example seem awkward, but the Merriam-Webster files have not a single example of the prescribed form with the singular. Actual usage seems to prefer the plural: • ... strong unsubsidized lines can each carry their share of money-losing routes —Time, 17 May 1954 Bernstein and Fowler appear to be agreeing on theory only; the examples they present, of course, have plural pronouns. Our files have very few examples of this particular construction, which suggests this problem may be encountered less often than some of the others discussed in this article. 7. Evans 1957 states, "The pronoun each itself does not have a genitive form. We cannot say each's." He is wrong; the form is rare but does exist. • Incentives for faculty come from rewards in each's discipline —Robert T. Blackburn, AAUP Bulletin, December 1967 8. In the 19th century there was some debate about whether each—pronoun or adjective—could properly refer to more than two. The issue was apparently started by Walter Savage Landor, who prescribes every when the reference was to more than two. Landor's prescription was mentioned with approbation by Fitzedward Hall in one of his polemical articles on language. Williams 1897 devotes a whole chapter, with numerous examples, to rebutting Hall. It is no longer an issue; each frequently refers to more than two. |
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