Ellen Jovin

And it sounds very stilted. It's not a particularly natural structure for most of us. It doesn't really coincide with how we speak. But people will remember, oh, Miss Smith in eighth grade English taught me that, so I'm going to rearrange my sentence.

Um, and, and I have to, that's probably the one thing when I tell people that actually you can end with a preposition, if it feels appropriate and more natural to you. I mean, you don't need to seek it out every opportunity you get because some of them can be awkward in their own way, but often it's the best way to do things.

Um, and, and I have to, that's probably the one thing when I tell people that actually you can end with a preposition, if it feels appropriate and more natural to you. I mean, you don't need to seek it out every opportunity you get because some of them can be awkward in their own way, but often it's the best way to do things.

Um, and, and I have to, that's probably the one thing when I tell people that actually you can end with a preposition, if it feels appropriate and more natural to you. I mean, you don't need to seek it out every opportunity you get because some of them can be awkward in their own way, but often it's the best way to do things.

And you should get rid of that superstition from your childhood English classes and move along and get with the English program, which allows you to do that.

And you should get rid of that superstition from your childhood English classes and move along and get with the English program, which allows you to do that.

And you should get rid of that superstition from your childhood English classes and move along and get with the English program, which allows you to do that.

You are really getting right to the tough ones here. So a couple is what is known as a collective noun. It has a singular form. This is what it means. It has a singular form but refers to multiple entities. And people struggle so much with what to do especially with verbs that go with the word couple. So yes, no one's going to say, what was your sentence? I saw a couple.

You are really getting right to the tough ones here. So a couple is what is known as a collective noun. It has a singular form. This is what it means. It has a singular form but refers to multiple entities. And people struggle so much with what to do especially with verbs that go with the word couple. So yes, no one's going to say, what was your sentence? I saw a couple.

You are really getting right to the tough ones here. So a couple is what is known as a collective noun. It has a singular form. This is what it means. It has a singular form but refers to multiple entities. And people struggle so much with what to do especially with verbs that go with the word couple. So yes, no one's going to say, what was your sentence? I saw a couple.

No one's going to say, I saw a couple. It was nice, right? You can't do that. You can't refer, even though it's singular, you can't say it was nice. You have to say they. So there is a schism between the singular form of couple and then what you want to do with it later. Now, I would do what you did. I would switch to they.

No one's going to say, I saw a couple. It was nice, right? You can't do that. You can't refer, even though it's singular, you can't say it was nice. You have to say they. So there is a schism between the singular form of couple and then what you want to do with it later. Now, I would do what you did. I would switch to they.

No one's going to say, I saw a couple. It was nice, right? You can't do that. You can't refer, even though it's singular, you can't say it was nice. You have to say they. So there is a schism between the singular form of couple and then what you want to do with it later. Now, I would do what you did. I would switch to they.

Where this causes confusion mostly because most people just put they and not even think about it. But people argue about the verbs that go with couple. Would you say, let's see, the couple, that nice young couple is moving in next door. That nice young couple are moving in next door. A lot of Americans will say is automatically. And I probably would in that case too. But there's language variety.

Where this causes confusion mostly because most people just put they and not even think about it. But people argue about the verbs that go with couple. Would you say, let's see, the couple, that nice young couple is moving in next door. That nice young couple are moving in next door. A lot of Americans will say is automatically. And I probably would in that case too. But there's language variety.

Where this causes confusion mostly because most people just put they and not even think about it. But people argue about the verbs that go with couple. Would you say, let's see, the couple, that nice young couple is moving in next door. That nice young couple are moving in next door. A lot of Americans will say is automatically. And I probably would in that case too. But there's language variety.

If you cross the Atlantic and you're in the UK, you're going to be more likely to hear nouns like that used with plural verbs. That nice young couple are moving in next door.

If you cross the Atlantic and you're in the UK, you're going to be more likely to hear nouns like that used with plural verbs. That nice young couple are moving in next door.

If you cross the Atlantic and you're in the UK, you're going to be more likely to hear nouns like that used with plural verbs. That nice young couple are moving in next door.

Absolutely. There's always going to be a tension between generations, you know, so we grow up, we have our own slang. We speak in a certain way. We're used to certain things. There are, I don't know, educational trends that affect how we're taught. And we grow up and then things evolve. You know, young people don't want the slang of the generation above them. They want their own.