Forum member Mioorphosed posted these intriguing grammar questions sometime ago: “I read these two sentences in a teacher’s manual and got confused: “Guide the pupils in making
their portraits” and “Guide the pupils in making
their portrait.” Which of them is proper? Should I consider the nature of the object here, whether noncount or count noun, when deciding which possessive adjective to use?
My reply to Mioorphosed:Let me restate your question for greater clarity: Should the number—whether singular or plural—of an object be always made to agree with the number of the possessive adjective modifying it? Specifically, in the two alternative sentence constructions you presented, should an object’s being singular (“portrait”) or plural (“portraits”) always determine whether the possessive adjective be correspondingly in the singular or plural form, too?
The answer is a categorical “no.” Whether the possessive adjective should take the singular or plural form is grammatically independent of whether the object it modifies is singular or plural. What determines the number to be taken by the possessive adjective is the sense intended by the writer or speaker. Thus, in the kind of sentence construction you presented, the possessive adjective can theoretically take these various forms that vary not only in number but also in gender:
(1) “Guide the pupils in making
their portraits.”
(2) “Guide the pupils in making
their portrait.”
(3) “Guide the pupils in making
his portraits.”
(4) “Guide the pupils in making
his portrait.”
(5) “Guide the pupils in making
her portraits.”
(6) “Guide the pupils in making
her portrait.”
The sentences above clearly show that the possessive adjective is independent in number from that of the object it modifies. Also, we need to find out precisely to whom the possessive adjective refers, for it’s possible that the subject could be someone or people not even mentioned in the sentence itself. In fact, it sometimes can only be inferred from the preceding sentences of the exposition.
Now, in the particular case of these instructional sentences, “Guide the pupils in making
their portraits” and “Guide the pupils in making
their portrait,” which of them has the correct object—the one with the plural “portraits” or the one with the singular “portrait”? As I earlier pointed out, it depends on what the speaker or writer specifically has in mind. And I must hasten to add that none of those two sentence constructions is precise enough to convey an unmistakable sense; indeed, we need to grammatically tweak both to ensure that the pupils won't misunderstand the instruction.
Here are the possible tweaks we can do to those sentences to make them crystal clear:
(1) If the possessive adjective refers to the pupils themselves, and those pupils have been tasked to individually do a single portrait of someone other than themselves, then the correct form is “Guide the pupils in making
their portrait of __________” (plural possessive adjective referring to the pupils themselves, singular object other than any of the pupils themselves).
(2) If the possessive adjective refers to the pupils themselves, and those pupils have been asked to individually do portraits of themselves, then the correct form is “Guide the pupils in
making portraits of themselves” (plural possessive adjective, plural object referring to the pupils themselves). However, to make it unmistakable that the portrait each pupil has to do is that of himself or herself, it is highly advisable to qualify the object as follows: “Guide the pupils in
making their respective portraits of themselves” (plural possessive adjective referring to the pupils themselves, plural object referring to the pupils themselves).
(3) Although rather unlikely in the case of the alternative sentence constructions you presented, it’s also conceivable that the possessive adjective “their” refers to subjects of the portrait other than the pupils themselves. In that case, those sentences should take either of these two forms for clarity: “Guide the pupils in
making a portrait of the subjects individually assigned to them” or “Guide the pupils in
making portraits of the subjects individually assigned to them.”
I didn’t want to make things appear so complicated, but these are actually some of the many grammatical dilemmas to be encountered when we construct sentences involving possessive adjectives and their object or objects. To ensure grammatically and semantically correct sentences, we just need to be doubly sure not only of the antecedent noun of the possessive adjective being used but also its relation to the object being modified by the possessive adjective. We should avoid guesswork and never leave things to chance when using possessive adjectives.
(2013)This essay first appeared in the weekly column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the February 25, 2013 issue of The Manila Times
, © 2013 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. -------
IMPORTANT NOTE ON GRAMMAR TERMS: In my original reply to the questions of Forum member mioorphosed on February 25, 2013, I inadvertently used the term “possessive pronoun” for the possessive modifiers “their,” “your” (singular), “your” (plural), “our,” “my,” “his,” “her,” and “its.” The precise term for each of these eight possessive modifiers is “possessive adjective.”
A
possessive adjective is an adjective used to show ownership. In a sentence, it comes before a noun to indicate to whom the noun belongs. Possessive adjectives are distinct from
possessive pronouns. While possessive pronouns also show ownership, they don’t come before a noun or in a noun phrase unlike possessive adjectives. Possessive pronouns stand alone and can be used to replace a noun, whereas a possessive adjective cannot do so.
As earlier enumerated above, the possessive adjectives are “their,” “your” (singular), “your” (plural), “our,” “my,” “his,” “her,” and “its.” On the other hand, the possessive pronouns are “mine,” “yours” (singular), “yours” (plural), “theirs,” “his,” “hers,” “ours,” and “its.”
In the interest of grammar accuracy and precision in terminology, I have replaced as of March 8, 2017 all references to “possessive pronouns” in my original posting on February 25, 2013 with the term “possessive adjectives.”
