grammatical number - When a sentence uses a parenthetical plural, should the rest of the sentence treat it as singular or plural?


Consider the following sentence:



We assume that the individual(s) possesses some general knowledge of the rules of football.



Is "possesses" correct there? Should it be "possess"? Is the rule more complex than always using one or the other?



Answer



There are at least two references that say the verb should be singular.


"... when an 's' or 'es' is added in parentheses to a subject or subjects, the verb should be singular because the 's' or 'es' is parenthetical. [For example,] The name(s) of the editor(s) of the book in reference 2 is unknown." APStyleManual


"When -s or -es is added parenthetically to a word to express the possibility of a plural, the verb should be singular. ..." AMAManualOfStyle


I have seen none that say the verb should be plural.


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