English Language Discussion Forums


Go Back   UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum > Learning English > Ask a Teacher

Quick Links
Sites for Teachers



Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 26-Apr-2004, 22:25
Anonymous
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default relative clauses

What is the correct form,

"We are a firm which prides itself on providing accurate..."
OR
"We are a firm who pride ourselves on providing accurate..."?

And what are the underlying rules? Is the second form "British" (use of the institutional plural, as in "The government are...")?

Thank you for any replies, tips, suggestions on where to find answers.

Sheila
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2  
Old 26-Apr-2004, 22:36
Editor, UsingEnglish.com
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Country: UK
Posts: 27,430
Current Location: Tokyo
Native Language: English
Member Type: English Teacher
Tdol has disabled reputation
Default

British English uses the plural for collective nouns more than American. As a BE speaker, I'd say both answers are possible, but 'that' sounds better.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 26-Apr-2004, 22:42
MikeNewYork's Avatar
VIP Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Country: USA
Posts: 6,089
Current Location: New York
Native Language: American English
Member Type: Academic
MikeNewYork is on a distinguished road
Default Re: relative clauses

Quote:
Originally Posted by ssee
What is the correct form,

"We are a firm which prides itself on providing accurate..."
OR
"We are a firm who pride ourselves on providing accurate..."?

And what are the underlying rules? Is the second form "British" (use of the institutional plural, as in "The government are...")?

Thank you for any replies, tips, suggestions on where to find answers.

Sheila
It gets a bit confusing when one starts with "we are a firm".

In AE, we would more likely say:

This is a firm that prides
Our firm prides

:wink:
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
relative, clauses

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may post new threads
You may post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Moderation Tools:

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
help!!! relative clauses Anonymous Ask a Teacher 1 23-Oct-2004 15:05
relative clauses fab54 General Language Discussions 3 05-Oct-2004 09:15
relative clauses ripley Ask a Teacher 1 26-Sep-2004 09:52
relative clauses mas94010 Ask a Teacher 2 14-Jul-2004 01:09
Relative clauses Anonymous Ask a Teacher 2 13-Jan-2003 17:34


All times are GMT. The time now is 10:45.


vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2010, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.3.2
Copyright © 2002 - 2010 UsingEnglish.com