|
THEY/THEIR (SINGULAR) |
Using the plural pronoun to refer to a single person of unspecified
gender is an old and honorable pattern in English, not a newfangled bit
of degeneracy or a politically correct plot to avoid sexism (though it often serves the
latter purpose). People who insist that “Everyone has brought his
own lunch” is the only correct form do not reflect the usage of
centuries of fine writers. A good general rule is that only when the
singular noun does not specify an individual can it be replaced
plausibly with a plural pronoun: “Everybody” is a good
example. We know that “everybody” is singular because we say
“everybody is here,” not “everybody are here”; yet
we tend to think of “everybody” as a group of individuals, so
we usually say “everybody brought their own grievances to the
bargaining table.” “Anybody” is treated similarly.
However, in many
written sentences the use of singular “their” and
“they” creates an irritating clash even when it passes
unnoticed in speech. It is wise to shun this popular pattern in formal
writing. Often expressions can be pluralized to make the
“they” or “their” indisputably proper: “All of
them have brought their own lunches.” “People” can often
be substituted for “each.” Americans seldom avail themselves
of the otherwise very handy British “one” to avoid specifying
gender because it sounds to our ears rather pretentious: “One’s
hound should retrieve only one’s own grouse.” If you decide to try
“one,” don’t switch to “they” in mid-sentence:
“One has to be careful about how they speak” sounds absurd
because the word “one” so emphatically calls attention to its
singleness. The British also quite sensibly treat collective bodies like
governmental units and corporations as plural (“Parliament have
approved their agenda”) whereas Americans insist on treating them
as singular.
