Subject-Verb agreement with compound subjects

[Geoff Bannister]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "potioncat" <willsonkmom at ...> wrote:
>
>  "Geoff Bannister" <gbannister10@> wrote:
>  
> > Taking Madam Hooch's comment, I might have put it as: 
> > "I see a single broom in the air, the person riding it will be out 
> of Hogwarts 
> > before he or she can say 'Quidditch'!"
> > 
> > Old-fashioned, non-PC? Maybe. But I prefer the more accurate 
> grammar.
> 
> Potioncat:
> I'm older-fashioned. 
> 
> I prefer "I see a single broom in the air, the person riding it will 
> be out of Hogwarts before he can say 'Quidditch'!"
> 
> Just because I can't stand 'he or she'. I do sort of like the trend 
> in paranting magazines to alternate between  he and she. But I would 
> be quite content with the nonspecific 'he' to go along with the 
> generic 'you'.

Geoff:
I would agree but since I sometimes get involved with preparing reports 
etc., I suppose I have to make a tip of the hat towards this. 

But, as in my example above, one can reduce the number of occasions 
where one has to face the problem, can't one?
:-)