their hand or their hands

[Musicgold]

Hi,

The following sentence is from a book. I don’t understand why the last set of word is ‘their hand’ and not ‘their hands'. How can I improve this sentence further?

In this game two players each put one their hands behind their backs and form either an open hand representing paper, a closed hand representing stone or two fingers out representing scissors. Then after the count of three, they simultaneously show each other their hand.

Thanks,

MG.

[Barb_D]

Each person shows only one hand. This could go either way.

(It's not the way I do rock, paper, scissors, by the way. We make a fist and pump it three times, then on the fourth movement, you change your hand into paper or scissors or leave it as rock.)

[Musicgold]

Barb_D

So clarity takes precedent over the grammar rule?

Also what if I changed 'their hand' to 'the hands' as in the following sentence.

...Then after the count of three, they simultaneously show each other the hands.

[Barb_D]

Yes, clarity is ALWAYS the most important rule.

There is no point in following grammar rules if the person reading it can't understand what you mean, and there's little point in following strict grammar rules if it sounds so odd to the ear that your listener/reader stops to puzzle about it rather than taking in the meaning.

That is the big difference between answers from someone who writes for a living and someone who teaches grammar for a living. My best advice would be find a way to rewrite so that it's clear, grammatical, and not jarring to the ear when read aloud.

And having said that, which part of the sentence do you find ungrammatical?

Don't use "the hands." That's very unnatural.

[Musicgold]

Barb_D,

Thanks.

I find the 'their hand' phrase a little odd, as 'their' refers to more than one person.