Wherever there's a pronoun, which includes the personal pronouns (e.g., he, she, they) and the possessive determiners (e.g., his, her. Why Do People Dislike a Singular "They" or "Their"? (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 However, it is now safe to label this practice as outdated.) (Option 5 - Outdated) Use "his" with a caveat. Similarly, "her" and "she" are acceptable if all are known to be female.) (This is acceptable if it is known that all team members are male. He must report to the race marshal by 9 o'clock. Each team leader is responsible for his team.(Option 4) Use a "his" or use "her" if you know that everyone is the same gender. However, if you have several sentences using this option, it looks clumsy.) (This is acceptable, and it can be a good option if you only use it once in your document. He or she must report to the race marshal by 9 o'clock. Each team leader is responsible for his or her team.(Option 3) Use "his or her" or "his/her." Of course, we have "it." But, we don't use "it" for people. It has come about because the English language does not have a pronoun that can be used for a singular person whose gender is unknown. This point is not related to the issue of recognizing non-binary gender. However, it is safe to label that view as outdated, and all the leading style guides now support a singular "they" or "their." This practice has become so popular that the American Dialect Society voted "they" (as a gender-neutral singular pronoun) as the 2015 Word of the Year. The word "they" is routinely described in grammar books as the " third-person plural personal pronoun," which is the reason many consider it wrong to use it as a singular. (Treating "their" and "they" as singular is widely acceptable.) (If you can make your whole sentence plural, then the problem goes away. They must report to the race marshal by 9 o'clock. All team leaders are responsible for their teams.(Option 1) Reword your sentence to make it all plural. (There used to be five options.) Here are the four acceptable options and the now-outdated fifth option listed from best practice to worst: When your singular person could be male or female, you have four options. So, which possessive determiners (e.g., his, her) and which personal pronouns (e.g., he, she) should we use?Ĭhoosing the Right Pronouns for a Person Whose Gender Is Unknown In this example, the term "each team leader" could be male or a female. Each team leader is responsible for their team. He/She must report to the race marshal by 9 o'clock.
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