it/them

[B45]

Are you going to take Malaysia Airlines when you travel this time? - A friend of mine said to his wife.

No, you could take it/them since you're such a dare devil. - Says my friend's wife.

Good or no good?

 

[SoothingDave]

Them.

Interestingly enough, for Americans companies are usually singular. Apple makes the iPhone. IBM is a good outfit. GM is in trouble with these ignition switches.

But you fly with a "them."

Southwest is a decent airline. I flew on/with them this morning.

 

[Winwin2011]

Them.

Interestingly enough, for Americans companies are usually singular. Apple makes the iPhone. IBM is a good outfit. GM is in trouble with these ignition switches.

But you fly with a "them'

Southwest is a decent airline. I flew on/with them this morning.

Southwest is a singulr noun here. Why don't we use 'it' with an airline?

 

[SoothingDave]

It's not just airlines. It goes to how we think about collective nouns.

GM is a car company. I have bought several cars from them.

It just seems unnatural to talk about buying cars from "it." We think of the people and not of the company as a singular entity.

 

[Tdol]

And many BrE speakers routinely use the plural with collective nouns.

 

[Winwin2011]

And many BrE speakers routinely use the plural with collective nouns.

Why Boeing is going to war with its employees?

Is it possible to use 'their employees' in the above sentence?

 

[MikeNewYork]

In BrE yes; in AmE usually not.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

It's possible to use "their employees" but you need the right word order, and you must be consistent with the use of the plural.

"Why are Boeing going to war with their employees?"

 

[Tdol]

Only if you change the verb to are. You should also change the word order- Why is/are Boeing....

 

[emsr2d2]

I assumed that "Why Boeing is going to war with its employees" was the title of a piece of writing. If it's actually a question then it does, of course, require a different word order and a question mark. As a statement/title, I would find it very unnatural with "their".

 

[Winwin2011]

I have clicked on the 'thank' buttons to thank for the repliers here. However, when I return to this post , the 'thank' buttons that I had clicked on were disappeared. I have tried that for three times.

 

[B45]

Only if you change the verb to are. You should also change the word order- Why is/are Boeing....

Shouldn't it be - Why is Boeing going to war with their employees?

NOT

Why are Boeing going to war with their employees?

 

[5jj]

There are some slight hiccups in the 'thanks/likes' system at the moment. We hope they will be sorted out soon.

 

[bhaisahab]

Shouldn't it be - Why is Boeing going to war with their employees?

NOT

Why are Boeing going to war with their employees?

Did you read SoothingDave's post, #2?

 

[B45]

Did you read SoothingDave's post, #2?

Why are Boeing going to war with their employees? - Just sounds strange. Am I the only one who thinks that?

 

[5jj]

Why should it sound strange to use when it's what many of us say?

 

[B45]

Why should it sound strange to use when it's what many of us say?

Because Boeing sounds like one entity and one company, so it sounds strange to use are to me.

Boeing are one of the biggest firms in the world. Or Boeing are a company that makes planes.

 

[Tdol]

I have clicked on the 'thank' buttons to thank for the repliers here. However, when I return to this post , the 'thank' buttons that I had clicked on were disappeared. I have tried that for three times.

If the button disappears, then it has been recorded. The Likes database is currently being rebuilt after the software upgrade - Likes is a plugin - and it's a long job as it has to change details of tens of thousands of posts individually.

 

[MikeNewYork]

It sounds strange to me too, Batman. But that is the way it is with different varieties of English.