15Seconds WebLog

also

INCORRECT: Microsoft has trimmed it's employee benefits.

Bob the angry flower make the apostrophe case better than I can though.
http://angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif

Strange, I know a person with a masters in English who asserts that pluralizing a corporation is simply an older usage that is falling out of favor. Hence, it is not incorrect, just old.

I'll remember that when an author submits an article that he wants published in 1940. :)

In any case, if writers insist on using plural form (which the editor will most likely change anyway), then the verb and noun should at least agree. See my first incorrect example, which is a popular misusage.

i believe UK english favors the "incorrect" way (i hear it said that way on BBC dozens of times a day, so i assume those guys are speaking grammatically correct, albeit kind of funny sounding to us). we say tomato, they say tomato :-) given that a lot of technical content comes from the UK, it's safe to say it probably won't go away.

Jayson,

after further research (http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/grammar/archive/collective_nouns.html), you are correct. UK English more often treats collective nouns as plural.

So, I'll (reluctantly) strike my second incorrect example, and qualify my orignal post with American.

The first incorrect example will remain.

Antecedent agreement between proper nouns and pronouns: If the subject (antecedent) is a group that acts in a collective manner, the pronoun and verb is singular (Microsoft, its, has). If the subject acts in separate ways, the pronoun is plural(Microsoft, their, have). In the sentence, since Microsoft is acting collectively as a company, Microsoft has...its...benefits. The first example is correct usage. Of course the Brits do it differently. They also drive on the wrong side of the street.

Correction: pronoun and verb ARE singular.

The issue seems more subtle if the pronoun is, say, in a following sentence. Consider:

"Microsoft has announced a beta version of Visual Studio. They say it will be available soon."

There's a change in person between the two, and it sure seems wrong to say "It says ..." for the 2nd sentence. It seems that the focus has changed even within a single noun-pronoun pair. (Yeah, I know, "recast.")

BTW, this is AHD on collectives (http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/020.html):

"In American usage, a collective noun takes a singular verb when it refers to the collection considered as a whole, as in _The family was united on this question_. It takes a plural verb when it refers to the members of the group considered as individuals, as in _My family are always fighting among themselves_."

Mike, in your example, I would try to identify the person would said "it will be available soon" to avoid the issue completely:

A company spokesperson said it will be available soon.

Mike Pope, technical writer, said it will be available soon.

But enough splitting of hairs. :)

You people scare me