It is correct to use I, me, my, we, us, and our within quotation marks, but once you take the quote marks away and write in reported speech, you have to make the following changes: These become a problem when you turn someone's quotes into reported speech. The words each and every are treated as singular, even though they may be followed by a long list of things they refer to.Įvery car, bus, bicycle and rickshaw in the city has to be licensed.Įvery car, bus, bicycle and rickshaw in the city have to be licensed. None of the men were willing to testify in court. None of the men was willing to testify in court. The subject of the sentence which follows is not men, it is none: not one) and therefore needs a singular verb.

The subject of the sentence is none (i.e. The word none is treated as singular (because it is short for not one), even though it is usually followed by a plural noun. Neither the man nor the woman are able to speak. Neither the man nor the woman is able to speak. This is because the words mean not either one, not one, each one and every one. The words neither, none, each and every are treated as singular when they are the subject of a verb, even though they refer to more than one thing or person. This is because the subject of the sentence is 'a bag', not 'coconuts' 'a flock', not 'sheep' and 'a bus', not 'nurses'. The bus full of nurses is waiting outside. For example, we say that:Ī bag of coconuts is sitting on the table.Ī flock of sheep is grazing in the field. Remember also that a singular noun should be treated as singular even when it contains several things. The Government said they were going to abolish income tax. The Government said it was going to abolish income tax. If individuals within the group act or make decisions as a single body, use the singular verb. It is very much a matter of which style your particular newspaper or broadcasting station uses, but there is a general guideline.

Some nouns which are collections of individual parts are treated as plural, while others are treated as singular. We will, however, remark on some of the most common mistakes made by journalists. With so many people using a language as complex as English, there are lots of opportunities for making errors. The third element of good writing is grammar - the rules by which the words fit into the structure.

In the previous two chapters on language and style we discussed the importance of structuring your stories well and using the correct words. In the final chapter on Language & style we will look at translation.

In this, the third chapter on Language & Style, we look at some of the most important grammatical rules for news writing, at some common mistakes and how to correct them.

12 basic rules of grammar