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"Its" vs. "Their"

English translation: "its" vs. "their"

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:"ses" vs "leurs"
English translation:"its" vs. "their"
Entered by: Germaine

17:58 Feb 24, 2003
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Linguistics / Grammar
French term or phrase: "Its" vs. "Their"
" ABC Co. est un chef de file (...) Ses ressources humaines sont...

En français, l'accord avec le nom de compagnie se fait au féminin singulier ("ses" ressources... et non "leurs")

Quelle est la règle en anglais? "Its" or "Their"?
Germaine
Canada
Local time: 09:55
its
Explanation:
the company is singular ...

HTH

Mary
Selected response from:

Mary Worby
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:55
Grading comment
Et moi qui croyait que c'en était une "facile"!
Merci pour tous les commentaires!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6its
Mary Worby
4 +6UK versus US
William Stein
5 +2no its or their in this context
Jane Lamb-Ruiz (X)
4 +2their (and rarer its)
mami_ladka


  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
its


Explanation:
the company is singular ...

HTH

Mary

Mary Worby
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:55
Native speaker of: English
Grading comment
Et moi qui croyait que c'en était une "facile"!
Merci pour tous les commentaires!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Clair Pickworth: strictly speaking yes, but we can see it as a group of people so a lot of people would say "their". I'd still go with your "its" here though
1 min
agree  Marian Greenfield
1 min
agree  Mike Osman
12 mins
agree  markmx: either, in fact, but 'its' is more grammatically pure; but note - we say 'the police have arrested...', not 'the police has arrested...'
21 mins
agree  Marion Burns
1 hr
agree  Sarah Walls
4 hrs
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9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
their (and rarer its)


Explanation:
We more often feel the people making up the company and so it's "their".
I would say "their" in this case.

mami_ladka
Local time: 15:55
Native speaker of: Native in SlovenianSlovenian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  markmx: you're not wrong, and it entirely depends on the context
16 mins
agree  cjohnstone
28 mins
agree  Carmen Campos
1 hr
disagree  Jane Lamb-Ruiz (X): no, this is incorrect Their HR preceded BY the ABC co is plain wrong, IMO. Neither Newsweek or Time would let it pass. It's bad grammar, sorry guys. Only IN SPOKEN ENGLISH
6 hrs
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24 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
UK versus US


Explanation:
Aux Etats-Unis on utilise toujours un verbe au singulier avec un nom au singulier, par exemple:
US:
The Royal Family is coming next week.
Parliament was divided on this question.

En Angleterre, ça depend: si on veut souligner le caratère individuel des membres du group, on utilise un verbe pluriel, même avec un nom au singulier:
The Royal Family were upset.
Parliament were divided on this question.

Mais, dans les deux pays, il n'est jamais faux de dire:
The Company is...

William Stein
Costa Rica
Local time: 07:55
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Grading comment
commentaires éclairants, mais il faut choisir. Thanks a lot

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  J Fox
43 mins
  -> Thanks.
agree  Rebecca Freed
2 hrs
agree  Mirelluk
2 hrs
agree  Peter Coles: Agreement from a UK resident on a US resident's subtle interpretation of the difference between these two dialects :-)
4 hrs
  -> Thanks, I always suspected that "U.K." was an abbreviated form of "You okay, I okay!"
agree  Teletariat
4 hrs
agree  Shog Imas: Merci, bonnes informations
5 hrs
disagree  Aida Macedo: The United States is...: le nom est un pluriel mais ici le verbe est toujours au singulier, n'est-ce-pas?
9 hrs
  -> Okay, "never say never" in English grammar, but it's still the general rule.
agree  Sara Freitas: Collective nouns take singular form in US, plural in UK. Aida, the United States is the name of a country, NOT a collective noun.
16 hrs
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The asker has declined this answer
Comment: commentaires éclairants, mais il faut choisir. Thanks a lot

6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
no its or their in this context


Explanation:
Often, the USE of personal pronouns is different in French and English.

I agree with what the colleague has to say about UK/US in part.
The Royal Family was or were. [Family is a group]
Don't agreement Parliament WAS/WERE.

BUT, I would not even use Its or their here. GRAMMATCIALLY, it must be ITS because THE ABC Company is SINGULAR. Their is plural.

THE ABC COMPANIES would call for THEIR.

THIS SAID, for the type of sentence you have posted, I would translate it as:

"Human resources at ABC. etc. "Can't tell you why but it is better stylistically.

Depending on what comes after: SEs resources humaines, you might get:

It views human resources as
It considers human resources as

BUT NOT [most likely} Its human resources. If you provide the rest of the sentence, I could improve my example.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-02-25 00:24:33 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

For the record:
In US English AND UK ENglish, the word people is ALWAYS plural. It\'s a common mistake French speakers make in English, sometimes saying, People is......

Jane Lamb-Ruiz (X)
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in PortuguesePortuguese
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Aida Macedo: ...and the word NEWS is singular: no news is good news...
3 hrs
  -> indeed, Aida..:)
agree  Sara Freitas: I agree that it is not relevant here, because translating with its or their makes for quite an awkward construction!
10 hrs
  -> ah yes, a seasoned one you are :)
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