CONCORD

CONCORD, also agreement. In GRAMMAR, the relationship between units in such matters as number, person, and gender: ‘They did the work themselves’ (number and person concord between they and themselves); ‘He did the work himself’ (number, person, and gender concord between he and him). Lack of standard concord occurs in sentences like The books is on the table and I says do it but he don't do it. Although ungrammatical in the standard language, such usage is consistent with the requirements of concord within some non-standard varieties.

Number and person concord

In standard English, number concord is most apparent between a singular or PLURAL subject and its verb in the third person of the simple present tense: That book seems interesting (singular: book agreeing with seems) and Those books seem interesting (plural: books agreeing with seem). The verb be involves concord for the first person singular (I am, etc.) and uniquely among English verbs has different forms for singular and plural in the past (was, were). Number concord, requiring that two related units should both be singular or both be plural, can involve complements and objects: That animal is an elk, Those animals are elks, I consider him a spoilsport, I consider them spoilsports. Both number and person concord are involved in the use of pronouns and possessives, as in ‘I hurt myself’ and ‘My friends said they were coming in their car’.

Singular THEY

Controversy surrounds the use of they as a third-person singular pronoun, in defiance of number concord. It is common after indefinite pronouns: If someone puts themselves forward in showbiz, they should be prepared for exposure if they err (Observer, 18 Dec. 1988). The practice is popular as a way of avoiding the alleged sexism of the traditional use of masculine pronouns and the awkwardness that often attends he or she phrases. It has a long history: ‘Here nobody hangs or drowns themselves’ ( Horace Walpole, 18c). It can occur where a masculine or feminine word could be used: ‘He manages to think at least fifty years ahead, which for someone in their nineties is quite remarkable’ ( Prince Charles on the Earl of Stockton, Daily Telegraph, 22 Nov. 1985). Some grammarians claim that the usage is informal; others use it freely in their own formal writing: ‘I have had a heart for years, but I would not know whether anyone else had a hole in theirs’ ( David Crystal, Linguistics, 1971).

Gender concord

This is an important part of the grammar of languages such as French or German, in which all nouns belong to a gender category, and articles and adjectives have to agree with them, as in the French une petite plume (a little pen), in which feminine agreement runs through the phrase, and un petit livre (a little book), in which the concord is masculine. In English, gender concord does not exist apart from personal and possessive pronouns, as in Mary hurt herself badly in the accident but my father only broke his glasses.

Notional concord

This stands in contrast to grammatical concord and means agreement by meaning rather than grammar, where the two are in conflict. In BrE, notional concord occurs when plural verbs are widely used with collective nouns: The Opposition seem divided among themselves; The committee have decided to increase the annual subscription. Some of the controversial uses of they can be accounted for in this way: Everybody has left now, haven't they? In both BrE and AmE, singular verbs are usual with apparently plural forms that are notionally felt to be singular, as in: Fish and chips is no longer cheap; ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ is a classic novel; $50 was a lot to pay. Usage is divided in some areas. With various negative structures, some people favour grammatical, singular concord and others prefer notional, plural concord: Neither John nor Mary knows about it in contrast with Neither John nor Mary know about it, and None of the bodies so far recovered was wearing a life-jacket in contrast with None of the bodies so far recovered were wearing life-jackets.

Proximity concord

Clauses as subjects are usually treated as singular: To err is human; That you don't agree upsets me. With long noun phrases, the head word is relevant for number concord, as in One of your friends is here, not *One of your friends are here, and He is one of those people who always interfere, not *He is one of those people who always interferes, but in the heat of creation the concord in such constructions is often overlooked. In such cases, proximity concord operates, the verb agreeing with the nearest noun. It can also operate in awkward constructions like *Neither my sister nor I am going and occurs in the traditional use of a singular verb after More than one, where both grammar and meaning require a plural verb: More than one person has remarked on this strange fact.