His or Her vs. Their

grammatical gender her his possessive determiners their

Why Do We Want to Use 'Their' instead of 'His or Her'?

In the past, it was common and normal to use the masculine pronouns (he, his, etc.) to refer to both males and females (people in general). But nowadays, this use of masculine or feminine pronouns for referring to people, in general, is considered unacceptable.

Nowadays, it is increasingly common to use the singular 'they' or its possessive form 'their' as a generic pronoun when referring to someone indefinite or unknown. This usage helps to avoid the gender-specific pronouns 'he' or 'she' when the gender of the person is not specified or when gender inclusivity is desired.

Example

Everyone must do his share of work here. It's a team work.

In the past, the 'generic he' was supposed to refer to males and females generally.

Everyone must do his or her share of work here. It's a team work.

This was another alternative to avoid the use of 'generic he'. But, it is still considered sexist language and therefore still not acceptable.

Everyone must do their share of work here. It's a team work.

Do not confuse plural 'their' with singular 'their'. 'Everyone' is singular, but it is still acceptable and grammatically correct to use 'their' in this sentence.

Comments

(2)

I am someone

Apr 2024

It's not even about gender awareness. Writing "If a customer needs to xxxxx, then they must submit their xxxx..." is just more convenient than writing "If a customer needs to xxxxx, then he or she must submit his or her xxxxx... "

Florence Mailos Ndiaye

Mar 2023

its more accessible than a generic way of writing and the audio makes it easier to pronounce each word

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Why Do We Want to Use 'Their' instead of 'His or Her'?

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