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I know that normally singular verbs are to be used with "each", but what if an individual and 'each' + a partitive involving a collective noun, such as "family", is spoken of, and "their" is used in referring to the individuals involved?

For example, is this correct:

Both Tinkerbella and each member of the McGorkle family has chosen to spend their life eating chocolate, and has been offically registered as a dyed-in-the-wool chocolate lover.

(has, their life, has, as a ... lover)

Or this:

Both Tinkerbella and each member of the McGorkle family have chosen to spend their lives eating chocolate, and have been offically registered as dyed-in-the-wool chocolate lovers.

(have, their lives, have, as ... lovers)

I could get rid of the "their" by replacing it with "his or her," perhaps (depending on current gender usage), but it seems/sounds awkward ("has chosen to spend his or her life").

If all the people being spoken of were male, it could be "his life" or "her life," but as there is a mixture of genders involved, "their life" is the only logical usage, right?

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    You can't say "both Tinkerbella and each" unless "Tinkerbella" is somehow the plural of "Tinkerbell". "Both" means two.
    – Peter Shor
    Commented Apr 24, 2022 at 23:17
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    ... Can one of us rephrase that, @Peter, to 'both A and B' requires that A and B both be in singular form or both be in plural form? (Though I'm still working on 'both clothes and furniture', plural-form non-count and singular-form non-count. 'They need both clothes and furniture' doesn't raise my hackles. Perhaps 'both A and B' requires that A and B both be (a) singular-form count-nouns (/proper nouns), (b) plural-form count-nouns (/proper nouns), or (c) non-count nouns'?)
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 10:57
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    @Edwin's right; my comment was too broad. You can combine singular and plural forms using both as long as there are conceptually two things. So you could say: "both our coffee and our sandwiches," but you can't say "both the sheriff and the three deputies." And I don't see how "Tinkerbella and each member of the McGorkle family" could be categorized conceptually as two things.
    – Peter Shor
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 12:34
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    Deeper and deeper.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 16:00
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    @PeterShor See "Tinkerbella and each member of the McGorkle family" categorized as "she and they".
    – Greybeard
    Commented Apr 27, 2022 at 9:35

3 Answers 3

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Both Tinkerbella and each member of the McGorkle family has chosen to spend their life eating chocolate,

This is incorrect.

  1. Both, as a subject, governs a plural verb.

  2. "Tinkerbella and each member of the McGorkle family" is the cataphoric referent of "both".

  3. The pronoun for the NP "Tinkerbella and each member of the McGorkle family" is "they", which also governs a plural verb.

Without "both" the sentence has two forms:

4.Tinkerbella and each member of the McGorkle family have chosen to spend their life eating chocolate,

5.Tinkerbella - and each member of the McGorkle family - has chosen to spend her life eating chocolate,

If the subject of the sentence were "Each member of the McGorkle family" -then "Each member of the McGorkle family has chosen to spend their (singular) or his/her life eating chocolate,"

"Each" is partitive and takes a singular verb.

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  • I wonder what function you assign to "Tinkerbella and each member of the McGorkle family". Is it an appositive, in apposition to "both"? Or something else?
    – MarcInManhattan
    Commented Apr 26, 2022 at 17:23
  • @MarcInManhattan ""Tinkerbella and each member of the McGorkle family" is the cataphoric referent of "both".
    – Greybeard
    Commented Apr 26, 2022 at 23:41
  • "Because he was hungry, John ate dinner." <-- "John" is the cataphoric referent of "he", but that is not its function; it is a subject. So I'm wondering about the function you assign to that phrase.
    – MarcInManhattan
    Commented Apr 26, 2022 at 23:46
  • In constructions where both precedes coordinated elements which are nouns or noun phrases (e.g. ‘both her mother and her father came to visit’), both could be regarded as a determiner (or "predeterminer") modifying the two noun phrases (or a simple adjective). However, I do not think it is necessary to go to this length. Both requires a referent and "pronoun" seems favourite.
    – Greybeard
    Commented Apr 27, 2022 at 0:07
  • I ask because your answer doesn't make sense to me. You say in point #1 that "both" is a subject, but now you say that it is "a determiner (or "predeterminer") . . . or a simple adjective". However, those normally don't function as subjects (with a few exceptions--such as adnouns--none of which would apply here).
    – MarcInManhattan
    Commented Apr 27, 2022 at 6:24
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When you use "and" you made it a plural subject regardless of other considerations. Plural subjects take plural verbs. For instance, here, the first example is

The critic and the author rarely agree.

Where both "critic" and "author" are singular. Therefore the question of what effect "each" has is moot.

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You have a compound subject consisting of two components: "Tinkerbella" and "each member of the McGorkle family". Because the components are connected by "and", the subject should be construed as plural.1 Therefore, the second sentence is correct.

Peter Shor (in a comment) objects to "both Tinkerbella and each member of the McGorkle family", claiming that "both" must refer to exactly two items. However, I have no problem with something like "both the Jets and the Sharks dance well". (There must be at least four items: at least two Jets and two Sharks.) I'm therefore OK with "both Tinkerbella and each member of the McGorkle family", although you may want to consider rewording, since some people clearly find that troublesome.

Note 1: There are some exceptions (such as "peanut butter and jelly"), but those wouldn't apply here.

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    'Bacon and eggs / Peanut butter and jelly are both to be found on the next aisle.' Logical agreement is logical, taking the appropriate verb form in each individual example. (For the sake of completeness.) // A serious problem is following << There must be at least four items: at least two Jets and two Sharks. [>1 + >1]>> with << I'm therefore OK with "both Tinkerbella and each member of the McGorkle family" >> [1 + >1].
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 10:38
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    @EdwinAshworth I didn't mean that "peanut butter and jelly" could never be plural, only that it could be singular. // Yes, the series in this sentence is 1 + >1, but my point is that "both" doesn't have to refer to exactly two items (at least in my opinion), which I think PS was suggesting. If you prefer, I could use another example, e.g. "I like both fudge and sprinkles on my ice cream."
    – MarcInManhattan
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 12:07
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    'There must be at least four items: at least two Jets and two Sharks.'means one shouldn't therefore be OK with "both Tinkerbella and each member of the McGorkle family".
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 15:58
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    @EdwinAshworth I guess that I wasn't very clear. I meant: 1) That particular phrase clearly includes at least 4 items. 2) I'm OK with using "both' with it. 3) Therefore, I'm OK using "both" with more than two items. Perhaps I'll replace it with another example.
    – MarcInManhattan
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 19:57
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    Yes. It could be the noncount nature with the first, and perhaps also 'padding' with the second (which pairs probable non-count and count usages)..
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Apr 27, 2022 at 13:36

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