Which of the following is correct?
The beaver is one of the few animals that changes its own environment.
Or
The beaver is one of the few animals that change their own environment.
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1The second one. There is a set of a few animals that change their own environment, and the beaver is a member of this set. – BillJ Sep 04 '22 at 17:36
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2First one's OK, too. There's no other meaning, and the their can be singular. – John Lawler Sep 04 '22 at 19:13
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1CGEL say the first is ok too. Here's a very interesting and informative post by your doppelgänger F.E. – Araucaria - Him Sep 04 '22 at 20:05
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1The sentences are amenable to analysis. Leave open. – Anton Sep 05 '22 at 07:20
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1No one uses singular "their" for animals! And yes, the first could be seen as also correct, but only as an override. Semantically, the relative clause modifies "animals". – BillJ Sep 05 '22 at 09:26
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1The second one is correct: The beaver is one of the few [animals that change their own environment]. Test: Of the few [animals that change their own environment], the beaver is one. The first one is incorrect: **The beaver is [one] of the few animals [that changes its own environment].* Test: **Of the few animals, the beaver is [one that changes its own environment].* (There are more than a few animals.) See my answer at "You're one of the only people" plurality. – Tinfoil Hat Sep 05 '22 at 20:07
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@TinfoilHat See what. the science says – Araucaria - Him Sep 09 '22 at 15:31
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@Araucaria-Nothereanymore. Not sure what science that is, but the examples there can go either way: Of those people [who always want to have the last word], he is one. or Of those people, he is one [who always wants to have the last word]. That's because of the deictic those. Try swapping in the few for those. It's different. – Tinfoil Hat Sep 10 '22 at 02:48