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oldfatfarang
Joined: 19 May 2005
Location: On the road to somewhere.
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 Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:57 pm Post subject: grammar question |
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Which is grammatically correct?
1) They are both wearing a hat.
2) They are both wearing hats.
I think number one is correct for formal written English (because they are both wearing one hat).
But number two sounds OK for informal speaking.
Any help appreciated. |
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Woland
Joined: 10 May 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 2:08 am Post subject: Re: grammar question |
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| rainbowtrout wrote: |
Which is grammatically correct?
1) They are both wearing a hat.
2) They are both wearing hats.
I think number one is correct for formal written English (because they are both wearing one hat).
But number two sounds OK for informal speaking.
Any help appreciated. |
Both are grammatical.
Some people will say that 1) is ungrammatical because, they'll claim, it sounds like the two people are wearing the same hat. But use of language is regulated by our knowledge of the world (how this happens is studied in the branch of linguistics called pragmatics) and given what we know about the world, we expect each person to be wearing their own hat.
Pretty much the same story for 2). Some folks would complain that it sounds like each person is wearing more than one hat. But again, our knowledge of the world saves us from this interpretation.
Personally, I think I would be more likely to produce 2) than 1), in both speech and writing. For 1), I think I would prefer a sentence with 'each' in place of 'both'. 'Each' separates the individuals and seems to go better with a singular 'hat' (but we lose the specificity of knowing exactly how many people you are talking about that 'both' provides).
I don't know that there is a clear cut difference between the two in terms of one being more formal than the other or one being more frequent in writing than speech and vice versa. It would take a very fine corpus analysis to reveal those things. Anybody who says that one of these is preferred here or there is pretty much talking through their hat without that analysis.
If there is some fusty prescriptive grammar rule to be referred to, it will not be worth paying attention to. In real life, a native speaker hearing either of these would know exactly what was meant and would not, I think, judge a speaker or writer harshly for using either.
Is this for your course, rainbowtrout? |
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oldfatfarang
Joined: 19 May 2005
Location: On the road to somewhere.
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| Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 2:23 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the great info Woland. This query was from my Director. It's coming up to my contract renewal and I've noticed an marked increase in grammar questions from Herr Director. I hate these Confucian mind games: Is he checking my grammar knowledge? Is he being 'friendly' so I'll resign? Is he trying to embarrass me and gain face? This guy is so 'cunning' I'll probably never know.
No, I haven't taken a CELTA yet. That's just my plan for next year if I don't renew my present contract. I've just been handed another new class finishing at 10pm so obtaining a CELTA and escaping to a uni seems increasingly attractive. |
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