Brief English question

[MN Dave]

What about "ain't?" 

[Topaz]

Each of the cats can has cheeseburgers

or

Each of the cats can have cheeseburgers

If we drop the "can", it is correct to say "Each of the cats has cheeseburgers", and not "Each of the cats have cheeseburgers". 

If "can" is re-inserted, then "can has" is never applicable under any circumstances, and "can have" is the only grammatical form that has general acceptance.  To be slightly pedantic, "Each of the cats may have cheeseburgers" is probably better.

[Pierre]

Wow.

However, when I wrote Each of the desks' drawers in the room can be locked by the owner and are theirs to use I was thinking that each desk had a set of draws not just one, and that Each just refers to each desk, not its drawers; the word drawers has to be used either way, and if it's plural for each desk it supports the use of are??

I don't know if you have ever tried, or ever intend to get published: but if I were you, I should quit trying to justify your sentence and consider whether you've in fact written something that's so ambiguous even an experienced editor would be defeated and would - I'm sorry to say - vow never to commission an article from someone so unable to write clear English. Far better to start again and re-write your sentence.

[head-case]

This came up as a matter of contention this week in English classes- any thoughts on whether is or are should be used?

Each of the desks' drawers in the room can be locked by the owner and is theirs to use.

Each of the desks' drawers in the room can be locked by the owner and are theirs to use.

Neither is correct, "theirs" is improper usage.  Dropping some non-essential verbiage, it should be

Each of the drawers can be locked by its owner and is his (or hers) to use.

If you really mean "each" to refer to the desk, then it should be

Each of the desks has drawers that can be locked by their owner and are for his or her use.

You could even say

Each of the desks has drawers that can be locked by its owner and are for his or her use.

which would imply that the owner is the owner of the desk (not the drawers) although it is still the plural drawers that are being locked.  That seems more obscure to me.   What would be wrong with simply "if you don't want you stuff to get stolen, lock your desk drawers."

Pierre made the most salient point.  Any sentence so convoluted that the verb tenses are unclear is not a good sentence. 

[Sean]

But in doing so, you've made the sentence plural, where it was originally singular.

Yes that's what I was thinking.

However I'll probably defer to Topaz's expertize. (Or do you prefer no s after the apostrophe?, or ise not ize?, and question marks only at the ends of sentences?)

Thanks guys. It's heartening to know I'm not the only dude finding myself drawn into this stuff.

[Sean]

Pierre made the most salient point.  Any sentence so convoluted that the verb tenses are unclear is not a good sentence. 

Good one head-case, and you're right about the convoluted sentence; I was aware of this but wanted to include S's and apostrophes for an exercise for students. Note you can use an apostrophe to denote purality occasionally to make things clearer...