Dear Teachers,
I’d like to know how to describe something that each of the individules in a goup has only one. For example, each person in a group has only one father, only one face, and only one nose.
Consider these sentences:
a)These are the 3 kids in this class whose fathers are soldiers.
b)These are the 3 kids in this class whose father is a soldier.
I don’t know if both a) and b) are correct. If yes, then I have a feeling that a) infers that those 3 kids are from different families, and b) infers the 3 kids are from the same family, ie they are siblings.
c)These six kids went to a carnival, each of [them/who/whom] got their [face/faces] painted.
d)These six kids went to a carnival, who got their [face/faces] painted.
e)Usually, clowns have [red noses/a red nose]. [/i]
What are the correct words to choose in c), d) and e)?
Thanks a lot.
For C, I’d prefer either “each of them got his face painted” or “all of them got their faces painted”: “each” should go with singular, so “his” and “face”; “all” goes with plural, so “their” and “faces”. But many native speakers do not find this distinction important and tend to disregard it, so it is up to you to decide how close to the rules you want to stick.
For the rest I like Thredder’s advice, especially that, for sentences of the type in E, “red noses” is the best choice, while “a red nose” is not entirely wrong either.
In C, “whom” would be formal and closest to the rules (“whom” is object to the preposition “of”), but most native speakers would often use “who” for objects too, so you won’t shock anybody with that either. “Them” would turn the clause into an independent sentence, in which case a full stop and capital would be better.