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"He/She" or "They"? "His/Her" or "Their"?
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He/She or They? His/Her or Their?
Writers often ask whether they should refer to a singular person whose gender is unknown as "he," "she," "he or she," "he/she," or "they." Look at this example:- Each team leader is responsible for his / her / his or her / his/her / their team. He / She / He or She / He/She / They must report to the race marshal by 9 o'clock.
Got it? Take a quick test.Choosing the Right Pronouns for a Person Whose Gender Is Unknown
When your singular person could be male or female, you have four options. (There used to be five options.) Here are the four acceptable options and the now-outdated fifth option listed from best practice to worst:(Option 1) Reword your sentence to make it all plural.
- All team leaders are responsible for their teams. They must report to the race marshal by 9 o'clock.
(If you can make your whole sentence plural, then the problem goes away. This is a tidy option.)
- Each team leader is responsible for their team. They must report to the race marshal by 9 o'clock.
(Treating "their" and "they" as singular is widely acceptable.)
(Option 3) Use "his or her" or "his/her."
- Each team leader is responsible for his or her team. He or she must report to the race marshal by 9 o'clock.
(This is acceptable, and it can be a good option if you only use it once in your document. However, if you have several sentences using this option, it looks clumsy.)
- Each team leader is responsible for his team. He must report to the race marshal by 9 o'clock.
(This is acceptable if it is known that all team members are male. Similarly, "her" and "she" are acceptable if all are known to be female.)
- Each team leader is responsible for his team. He must report to the race marshal by 9 o'clock.
(It used to be common for formal documents to include a caveat like this: "Throughout this document, 'he' means 'he or she,' and 'his' means 'his/her.'" However, it is now safe to label this practice as outdated.)
Why Do People Dislike a Singular "They" or "Their"?
Wherever there's a pronoun, which includes the personal pronouns (e.g., he, she, they) and the possessive determiners (e.g., his, her. their), then its antecedent (the thing it refers to) will not be far away. Look at these examples. The pronouns are highlighted and their antecedents are in bold.- Please ask your guest to collect their coat before leaving.
(In this example, "their" refers back to "guest," which is singular. The word "guest" is the antecedent of "their.")
- Each of them gave their opinion. (Here, the antecedent of "their" is "each," which is singular.)
Below is the list of personal pronouns (in their various forms) showing "they" as a plural. This table is repeated in thousands of grammar books, very few of which recognize that "they" can be used as a singular.
| Person | Subjective Case | Objective Case | Possessive Case Possessive Adjective | Possessive Case Absolute Possessive Pronouns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Person Singular | I | me | my | mine |
| Second Person Singular | you | you | your | yours |
| Third Person Singular | he/she/it | him/her/it | his/her/its | his/hers/its |
| First Person Plural | we | us | our | ours |
| Second Person Plural | you | you | your | yours |
| Third Person Plural | they | them | their | theirs |
This table is the basis of the argument for those who dislike using "they" as a singular. It is true to say that grammar books haven't caught up yet. But, remember that, nowadays, "they" can have a singular antecedent. This allowance is necessary to cover the English language's lack of a singular gender-free pronoun that can be used for people.
More Examples
Here are some more examples of sentences featuring gender-free antecedents (bold) and related pronouns (highlighted):(Option 1) Reword your sentence to make it all plural.
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Ready for the Test?
Here is a confirmatory test for this lesson.This test can also be:
- Edited (i.e., you can delete questions and play with the order of the questions).
- Printed to create a handout.
- Sent electronically to friends or students.
- Do you disagree with something on this page?
- Did you spot a typo?