Singular they
Hi,

I'd like to know if you use the "singular they", used to avoid specifing a gender (and thus discriminating towards another) or in order to avoid repeating everytime both "her" and "his". So, which of the following would you use?

Anyone who commits this breach of agreement will have his/her money withheld. Or: Anyone who commits this breach of agreement will have their money withheld.

Of course here there will be a different choice like "All the employees who commits this breach of agreement will have their money withheld" but I'm trying to understand if native people use this singular they, and in what situations (informal, formal ect).

Than you very much

Question

Singular they
Hi,

I'd like to know if you use the "singular they", used to avoid specifing a gender (and thus discriminating towards another) or in order to avoid repeating everytime both "her" and "his". So, which of the following would you use?

Anyone who commits this breach of agreement will have his/her money withheld. Or: Anyone who commits this breach of agreement will have their money withheld.

Of course here there will be a different choice like "All the employees who commits this breach of agreement will have their money withheld" but I'm trying to understand if native people use this singular they, and in what situations (informal, formal ect).

Than you very much

Answer

The singular "they" emerged as early as the 14th century and is fairly common in spoken English. Lately, its use in formal English has increased with the trend toward gender-neutral language. I agree with Paul regarding the clunkiness of'his/her' in either writing or speaking.

Answer

I think it is bad style to write 'his/her' (as in it simply sounds bad and 'clunky' to my ear) and thus use the singular 'they' on almost all occasions. The singular 'they' would probably be avoided in really formal or legal language to avoid any potential ambiguity.

Answer

Yes, in England the politically correct culture is flourishing thus we use `they` when referring to he/she or `their` when referring to `his/her`. But I myself use a specific gender too, and nobody is against it ... so far ;)

You can use it in both formal and informal situations, there is no rule really, but generally they/their seems to be more formal those days.

Answer

Yeah, every time I speak with someone and they mention a third person, specially a professional, I try to not use his/her until they tell me more.

Answer

In casual writing/speaking, I'll tend to use the singular "they."  I will also do the same when speaking in more formal situations.

In a formal speech (the kind that is written, practiced in advance, and delivered to an audience), I will try to balance my examples, so I use "she" and "her" for about half of my examples and "he" and "him" the other half.   In formal writing, I will tend to use "he or she" or "her or him."  I'm old enough that I was taught not to use the singular they, and it feels wrong for me to use it in more formal situations.

Answers · 9

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