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A source says that the word "each" should always be followed by a singular noun, but however I look at it in this sentence it just doesn't seem to fit:

foo [comprises] multiple binary programs that each performs a single task.

Should it be "performs" or "perform"?

herisson
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kaykun
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6 Answers6

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Each in phrases like each battery is singular; the verb you use in that cases is singular.

Each battery is in a separate compartment.

Vice versa, in sentences like the following the verb is plural.

They each have their own personality.
Foo comprises multiple binary programs that each perform a single task.

Subject and verb must agree in number; in multiple binary programs that each perform a single task, the subject is multiple binary programs, which is plural, and the verb needs to be plural too (perform).

tchrist
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apaderno
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    You have arrived at the correct answer, but your explanation does not strike at the real issue: Why is it so?

    "Vice versa, in sentences like the following the verb is plural.

    They each have their own personality.

    Foo comprises multiple binary programs that each perform a single task."

    The explanation is that each is not being used as a pronoun, as most folks erroneously assume, so perform must agree with the relative pronoun "that".

     – ScotM Dec 20 '14 at 17:51
  • @kiamlaluno, Which is grammatical: 1) "The robots each have their* own personality." or 2)* "The robots each have its* own personality.*" – Pacerier Mar 02 '16 at 18:38
  • @Pacerier Each of the robots has its own personality. – apaderno Mar 02 '16 at 19:33
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The real problem with the OP is that “each” has been inserted in a position that obfuscates its purpose. It would be clearer if it said:

“ foo [comprises] of multiple binary programs that perform a single task each.

Another style possibility would be: “ foo [comprises] of multiple binary programs, each performing a single task.

Ignoring the error of style, and all other errors, we have the illusion of an internal conflict in this sentence. Both "that" and "each" seem to funcion as the subject for the verb "perform",

BUT in this sentence, "each" is not functioning as a pronoun. Some would argue it is functioning as an adjective modifying the relative pronoun "that", which is the subject of the relative clause. Others would argue it is functioning as an adverb modifying "perform". Either way, "each" is neither singular nor plural. See Each.

Tabulating functions:

Subject: foo

Verb: comprises [sic]

Prepositional phrase: of multiple binary programs

Relative clause: (referent programs) that each perform a single task

In an additional test, the sentence would make perfect sense without the word "each":

foo comprises of multiple binary programs that perform a single task.

Therefore, ignoring other errors, the correct verb form would be perform.

"foo comprises of multiple binary programs that each perform a single task."

Accepting the awkward style and improper use of the word "comprise", that is the correct grammar for "each", but why should we accept such rubbish? Our conversations about grammar could be much clearer if we kept good semantics and style in mind. Choose your words and design your sentences to make the most of the grammar!

ScotM
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  • Can you tell me whether the verb CONTAIN in the following sentence should be singular or plural: "Is there a word that describes a person whose given name and surname each contains but a single syllable?" And is it because of each acting as an adverb, like in your answer; or due to some other reason? – HeWhoMustBeNamed Mar 15 '20 at 13:46
  • If you follow the rationale of my answer, the plural “contain” is preferable. My answer did not address the ongoing controversy of “each” and its technical usage. It pointed out that the verb agrees with the real subject. In the OP, the plural “perform” agrees with “programs” the plural referent of the relevant pronoun. In your test, the plural “contain” agrees with the compound subject “name and surname.” Those who reject my analysis would insist on ignoring the compound subject to impose “each” as a singular subject focussed each member of “given name and surname” one at a time. – ScotM May 26 '20 at 22:01
  • The real problem with your test sentence is that “each” has been inserted as an ineffective substitute for the preferable “both.” “Is there a word that describes a person whose given name an surname BOTH contain a single syllable?” – ScotM May 26 '20 at 22:05
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Each is always singular. You are talking about how “each program is” doing one thing. Or how “each of these is” doing one thing. Both formulations are allowed, and in either case, it is singular. Only. That means that all of these are inadmissibly wrong — or alternately, each of these is inadmissibly wrong:

  • each ∗programs ∗are
  • each program ∗are
  • each ∗programs is
  • each of these programs ∗are

None of that is English.

Well, not correct English, that is. The OED says:

With reference to a sb. going before, or followed by of. Sometimes incorrectly with pl. vb.

All the citations of the incorrect use are also quite old.

No complex analysis is needed here: each, like every, is always singular, even when it is distributing a plural subject.

Also, “foo comprises of ” is also not English. It needs to be “foo comprises”. I know people who never, ever say comprise for fear of using it wrong, or worse, of being miscorrected. There might be betters words here, like consists of.

tchrist
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    As a pronoun, "each" is always singular, but in the sentence the OP constructed, each is not being used as a pronoun. – ScotM Dec 20 '14 at 17:49
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The use of "that" -- while conversational -- is really messing with the syntax and grammar of the sentence.

In complete English, it could be:

Foo consists of multiple binary programs, each one of which performs a single task.

Or:

Foo consists of multiple binary programs. Each of these programs performs a single task.

So to my mind, throwing "that" in there to replace "each one of which" is the problem. It might sound right as a phrase, but I think it wrecks the sense of the sentence.

To answer the original question: It doesn't sound right because of "that." So I have to recommend rewriting:

Foo consists of multiple binary programs, each of which performs a single task.

OR

Foo consists of multiple binary programs. Each one of those programs performs a single task.

user8356
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multiple binary programs that each perform a single task

Perform should be plural. As usual, the type of grammar "source" available is incorrect, incomplete, and misleading. What they say about each is sort of true, but it doesn't go nearly far enough.

Each is a Quantifier. All is another. Quantifiers can modify nouns

  • each boy in the class
  • all boys in the class

and when they do, each modifies singular nouns and all modifies plural nouns. That part's true.
What's not true is the statement that "the word each should always be followed by a singular noun".

"Followed by" is not the same as "modifies". And the "source" apparently doesn't know about the other important use of quantifiers - Quantifier Float. This is a transformation that moves a quantifier away from the noun it modifies, and sticks it where an adverb would normally go -- right before the verb. And this usage is not restricted to singular or plural, since it's not part of a noun phrase anymore, but is acting like an adverb.

In the example, the restrictive relative clause that each perform a single task has the plural noun programs as its antecedent. So the relative pronoun that subject will refer to a plural, and therefore its verb perform will be inflected as plural to agree with it.

Never mind what "follows" each. That's not the right grammar.

John Lawler
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    I don't think it's productive to make distinctions between determiners and something vague called a "modifier" (or some other vague thing called an "adjunct"). I use "modify" in the popular sense -- anything depending from a constituent with a recognizable head, like the head noun in a noun phrase, can be called a modifier, whatever its function. A determiner is one type of modifier, that's all. I don't know whether that's the "standard view" or not. There really aren't any generative standards; everybody picks their own favorite generalizations to presuppose. I did that a long time ago. – John Lawler May 31 '20 at 16:17
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But the AHDEL does give a complex analysis of structures using each following a plural subject - and one that is in line with kiamlaluno's second example, and with which I agree. Admittedly there is not an example parallel to the original with the that-clause cited, but thesaurus.com has individually and each as synonyms in this usage, and obviously Foo comprises multiple binary programs that individually perform a single task needs plural verb concord. Whether the object should be singular or plural is a different matter.

I'd probably use:

Foo comprises multiple binary programs: each performs a single task.

Edwin Ashworth
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