Bernard M Posted May 22, 2019 Report Share Posted May 22, 2019 Hello everyone, I've seen this expression "Everybody smile! ". I would have written: "Everybody smiles! "... So, my question: is "everybody" plural or singular or both? Thank you for your help. Link to comment
Chary Posted May 22, 2019 Report Share Posted May 22, 2019 (edited) In my opinion, being an indefinite pronoun it must be singular.so, 'Everybody smile! (plural form of smile is smiles) is correct. Therfore, smile took singular form. Other indefinite pronouns are: No body, anybody, somebody, etc. Regards, Hari Kiran Edited May 22, 2019 by Chary Link to comment
Head Tutor Minoo Posted May 22, 2019 Head Tutor Report Share Posted May 22, 2019 Hello Bernard and Hari, You're both right. When 'everybody' is the subject of a sentence, it definitely takes a singular verb: Everybody smiles when they pose for a photo. (Hari, please note that the 'singular' verb form is with 's': smiles). However, in Bernard's sentence, 'smile' is in the imperative form, which is the same as the base verb. Someone is asking everybody to smile for the photo: Everybody, SMILE (for the photo), please! Luca Nicola 1 Link to comment
Chary Posted May 23, 2019 Report Share Posted May 23, 2019 Thanks for correcting me. Minoo 1 Link to comment
Bernard M Posted May 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2019 Thank you, Chary. I answer to myself : we say "Everybody smile" because "everybody" is the subject of an imperative clause, with the base form of the verb. Link to comment
Bernard M Posted May 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2019 Hello Minoo, Thank you for your explanation. I understood now! Minoo 1 Link to comment
Recommended Posts