Due to their being asleep or due to them being asleep

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Hi, could anyone enlighten me on which alternative below is the correct one, or both, or none?

Our security stall was fired due to them being asleep during working hours.
or
Our security stall was fired due to their being asleep during working hours.

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[+3] - FBM - 08/29/2015[quote="Setanta"] Some Americans would say "was," and some would say "were." Then they'd argue about it, a fist fight would break out, and everyone would go out for...

Both are "correct", but the possessive (e.g. "their") prior to the gerund is preferred in more formal writing and speech. However, your sentence has a problem because you cannot "fire" a security stall, only the people who work on it.

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@rdemarchi,

rdemarchi wrote:

Hi, could anyone enlighten me on which alternative below is the correct one, or both, or none?

Our security stall was fired due to them being asleep during working hours.
or
Our security stall was fired due to their being asleep during working hours.

Maybe "stall" is a typo. I think it should be "staff."

Prescriptive grammarians may insist that the gerund be preceeded by the genitive (possessive) pronoun, but descriptive grammar would tell us that both of them are just fine.

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@FBM,

Quote:

Maybe "stall" is a typo. I think it should be "staff."

If so, then at least in British English, we would say "Our security staff were fired". In British English, we use plural verbal agreement to emphasize when an entity is made up of a group of people, whether this entity itself is marked as plural or not. This is also true of companies, bands, sports teams etc. E.g. Rolls-Royce are planning a new model of jet engine; Radiohead are playing six concerts this year; Manchester United are doing well this season.

In American English, one would, I believe, say "Our security staff was fired".

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Some Americans would say "was," and some would say "were." Then they'd argue about it, a fist fight would break out, and everyone would go out for a beer.

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Maybe it would be fairest to say that "were" is the majority usage in BrE, and "was" the minority, and in AmE this is reversed? Quite a lot of alleged "We say... and they say..." differences turn out to be like that.

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Are you tryin' to pick a fight, Bubba?

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@Setanta,

Quote:

Are you tryin' to pick a fight, Bubba?

if it's like the one that started in 1939, you'll come in 2 years later and "save our asses"...

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Now, now . . . no bitter recriminations. One of your countrymen here tries to say that the United States prolonged the war by not joining you in 1939. My parents met in England, and were married there on April 4, 1944.

Here, this one's for you . . .

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@Tes yeux noirs,

Tes yeux noirs wrote:

Quote:
Maybe "stall" is a typo. I think it should be "staff."

If so, then at least in British English, we would say "Our security staff were fired". In British English, we use plural verbal agreement to emphasize when an entity is made up of a group of people, whether this entity itself is marked as plural or not. This is also true of companies, bands, sports teams etc. E.g. Rolls-Royce are planning a new model of jet engine; Radiohead are playing six concerts this year; Manchester United are doing well this season.

In American English, one would, I believe, say "Our security staff was fired".

Yes, that's true. I teach my students both BrE and AmE conventions about this. I tell them to choose whichever they like, but use one or the other consistently in any given writing.

Man. U. have won the Something-or-Other Cup. (BrE)
Man. U. has won the Something-or-Other Cup. (AmE, if they actually gave a **** enough about soccer/football to report on it, that is. Wink

)

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@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

Some Americans would say "was," and some would say "were." Then they'd argue about it, a fist fight would break out, and everyone would go out for a beer.

I beg to differ. Someone would pull out a gun and shoot (at) a few people before going out for the beers.

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@FBM,

True enough . . . we have progressed a great deal, socially speaking.

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@FBM,

FBM wrote:

Man. U. have won the Something-or-Other Cup. (BrE)
Man. U. has won the Something-or-Other Cup. (AmE, if they actually gave a **** enough about soccer/football to report on it, that is. )

Clearly not, Manchester United have had a dismal season.

1 Reply

@izzythepush,

There ya go. As a duh-merkin, I know squat about the game. Except when Korea's national team is playing. Especially against Japan.

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Due to their being asleep or due to them being asleep

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