SINGULAR-PLURAL

[Glesz]

How to say this sentence correct because me, my colleagues and my supervisor are arguing with this sentence..

Are you ONE OF THE PERSON who handles the phone service?

OR

Are you ONE OF THE PERSONS who handles the phone service?

 

[Tdol]

I would use one of the people.

 

[Glesz]

BUT WHAT'S CORRECT TO THOSE TWO SENTENCES?

IS IT ONE OF THE PERSON OR PERSONS???

THANKS

 

[emsr2d2]

BUT WHAT'S CORRECT TO THOSE TWO SENTENCES?

IS IT ONE OF THE PERSON OR PERSONS???

THANKS

Please do not type all the letters in capitals - it is like "shouting".

Neither of your two sentences is natural English. As Tdol said, we would say "Are you one of the people who handles the phone service?"

 

[birdeen's call]

Is "handles" really correct here? I would use "handle".

 

[Tdol]

BUT WHAT'S CORRECT TO THOSE TWO SENTENCES?

IS IT ONE OF THE PERSON OR PERSONS???

THANKS

Neither- we use persons in formal and legal language, but it is not suitable here. One of the person is wrong. Persons is less wrong, but it's still not good.

 

[Tdol]

Is "handles" really correct here? I would use "handle".

A grey area IMO- you'll hear both forms.

 

[emsr2d2]

A grey area IMO.

I agree. I ran through various similar sentences in my head before replying, but I think you will hear both. Some people will say "handle" because it refers to "people [who]", and others will say "handles" on the basis that it relates to "one [of]".

 

[birdeen's call]

I agree. I ran through various similar sentences in my head before replying, but I think you will hear both. Some people will say "handle" because it refers to "people [who]", and others will say "handles" on the basis that it relates to "one [of]".

I'll stick to the plural because I can't see any reason to think it relates to "one [of]".

 

[Glesz]

Oh I do apologize for that ma'am.. thanks for the help..

 

[Glesz]

Yeah.. We're actually working in a call center and my supervisor (Ernie) always tells us to use the sentence "one of the persons".. And we're getting confused. Errrr..

 

[emsr2d2]

Yeah.. We're actually working in a call center and my supervisor (Ernie) always tells us to use the sentence "one of the persons".. And we're getting confused. Errrr..

On behalf of all the native speakers on this forum, please show Ernie the following message :

"One of the persons" is incorrect.

Incorrect English is one of the things that infuriates callers the most about call centres.

 

[Barb_D]

Welcome to Using English.

How do you say this correctly? My colleagues, my supervisor, and I are arguing about this question.

Please note my corrections to your question.
While you will hear people say "Me, my sister, and my brother are arguing," it is not correct. "My sister, my brother, and I are arguing" is correct.

Also, people argue WITH each other ABOUT an issue. You don't argue with the issue itself.

 

[Glesz]

Yeah.. Thanks so much for the help and corrections:lol:

 

[Rover_KE]

Here's another correction, Glesz — don't use full stops (periods) in pairs.

Rover