their life or lives?

[nico]

Hi folks

I'm never quite sure how to go about the following:

'Some of us work hard from the beginning or their life, whereas others seem to be born with a silver spoon.'

Shouldn't it be 'their lives' because of the plural pronoun? But then again, 'their' is also used to avoid the his/her dilemma. Any guidelines?

Cheers from Switzerland

Nico

[Naamplao]

Originally Posted by nico

Hi folks

I'm never quite sure how to go about the following:

'Some of us work hard from the beginning or their life, whereas others seem to be born with a silver spoon.'

Shouldn't it be 'their lives' because of the plural pronoun? But then again, 'their' is also used to avoid the his/her dilemma. Any guidelines?

Cheers from Switzerland
Nico

You would use "our" not "their" to be in agreement with "us".

'Some of us work hard from the beginning of our lives, whereas others seem to be born with a silver spoon.'

[nico]

Right, so let's make this

'Some of them work hard from the beginning or their life, whereas others seem to be born with a silver spoon.''

What about my question then? Is it 'their life' or 'their lives' and why?

Nico

[Flittle]

Originally Posted by nico

Right, so let's make this

'Some of them work hard from the beginning or their life, whereas others seem to be born with a silver spoon.''

What about my question then? Is it 'their life' or 'their lives' and why?

Nico

'Some of them', implies more than one, hence plural.

Frank