[Grammar] Is "Everybody" a third person singular pronoun?

[Aamir Tariq]

Is "Everybody" a third person singular pronoun?

To me it is plural but it is treated as a singular pronoun.

It is plural because it refers to a group of people, because everybody is not one person but "a group of people".

Grammatically it is treated as a singular pronoun because we say.

Everybody is okay.
Everybody likes to have fun.
Everybody needs to earn money to support his/her family.
Everybody in my family loves cricket.

And the same is the case with phrases like "each and everybody", "each and everyone".

What is your expert opinion on them?

Regards
Aamir the Global Citizen

 

[Roman55]

You've answered your own question.

It refers to people in general, and it takes the third person singular verb.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

You've answered your own question.

It refers to people in general, and it takes the third person singular verb.

Yes, that's what I am asking about, in all my examples it took the third person singular verb. But what I am asking is if "Everybody" is a third person singular pronoun since it takes the third person singular verb.

 

[PaulMatthews]

Yes, that's what I am asking about, in all my examples it took the third person singular verb. But what I am asking is if "Everybody" is a third person singular pronoun since it takes the third person singular verb.

I call it a compound determinative, not a pronoun at all. Compound because it comprises the determinative "every" + the nominal "body". "Every" is a distributive determinative, as can be seen by the fact that it selects a singular head; "everybody" (not *everybodies) and since it's a singular head, it follows that the verb too must be singular. So we get "Everybody is nice", not *"everybody are nice".

 

[Tdol]

It is plural because it refers to a group of people, because everybody is not one person but "a group of people".

Grammatically it is treated as a singular pronoun

Grammatical number does not always correspond to mathematical number.

 

[MikeNewYork]

More unneeded terminology. "Everybody" refers to all the bodies, one at a time.

 

[Raymott]

I think the collective noun is a "corps of corpses".

 

[PaulMatthews]

More unneeded terminology. "Everbody" refers to all the bodies, one at a time.

The terminology helps to explain why such words take singular agreement.

The crucial point with "everybody" and similar compounds is that the first element "every" is 'distributive' in that it refers to the members of a group individually rather than collectively. We all know that such words take singular agreement, but when someone asks about them I think it helps to explain why. And the term 'distributive' helps to do that job quite nicely.

 

[GoesStation]

I think the collective noun is a "corps of corpses".

They are examined by a body of coroners. Which brings us full circle.