If you have a sentence that is referring to several people who share the same title, does the title become plural?
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5When unsure, I find it's easiest to reword: "We are excited to announce our new Associates, John, Bob and Joe following their promotion" or similar– mcalexJul 22, 2021 at 8:27
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3As Lucy Kellaway once wrote, “leave your excitement for the bedroom”. And leave multiples for the mathematicians.– DavidJul 22, 2021 at 17:45
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2 Answers
The position they are being appointed to is titled Associate so this would be correct:
"We are excited to announce the promotion of John, Bob, and Joe to the position of Associate." (Leave out your comma before to.)
Alternatively, you could talk about their individual positions:
"We are excited to announce the promotion of John, Bob, and Joe to their new positions as Associates."
Each one is an Associate, and they are all Associates. Each one has the position of Associate.
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3Also, "We are excited to announce our new Associates: John, Bob, and Joe.".– minnmassJul 22, 2021 at 14:26
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1I agree that the third version is most correct of the three. In addition, however, I would pluralise "promotion" to make it more explicit that there are three promotions to the same position. Jul 22, 2021 at 15:04
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1Shouldn't it be "We are excited to announce the promotions of John, Bob, and Joe to the position of Associate"?– VikkiJul 22, 2021 at 22:14
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@Vikki Promotion (uncountable, countable) promotion (to something) a move to a more important job or rank in a company or an organization.. I'd use it in the uncountable fashion here, just like I would with "The group is dedicated to the promotion of small business, entrepreneur ship, and industry standards." Promotion as the act being done by the board (or whoever) rather than speaking of each individual promotion of the person or thing. Though it may also be correct to use the plural. Jul 22, 2021 at 22:26
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GArthurBrown's answer is entirely correct, though I would like to add that titles are pluralized when they are used before the names in question. For example:
"We are pleased to introduce professors Einstein and Newton."
"Doctors Kahneman and Anderson are the foremost modern psychologists."
"The suspects were taken into custody by officers Walker and Trivett"
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5I assume Kahneman and Anderson have doctorates, and while Walker and Trivett are technically Texas Rangers, I felt "officers" was a more appropriate example Jul 22, 2021 at 17:19
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1And let's also add "Messrs Brown and Smith graced us with their waffles." Jul 22, 2021 at 22:41
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2You could repeat the title with each name, as an alternate style, right? Jul 22, 2021 at 23:26
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2@GarrettMotzner Certainly. "President Joe Biden and President Vladimir Putin will meet to discuss the terms of a new treaty." Jul 23, 2021 at 0:39