Singularthey

"They/them" redirects here. For the film, seeThey/Them(film).

Singularthey,along with itsinflectedor derivative forms,them,their,theirs,andthemselves(alsothemselfandtheirself), is agender-neutralthird-person pronounderived from pluralthey.It typically occurs with an indeterminateantecedent,to refer to an unknown person, or to refer to every person of some group, in sentences such as:

A sticker indicating the wearer's use of singular they pronouns

"Somebodylefttheirumbrella in the office. Could you please letthemknow wheretheycan get it? "

"My personal rule is to never trustanyonewho says thattheyhad a good time in high school. "

"The patientshould be told at the outset how muchtheywill be required to pay. "

"Buta journalistshould not be forced to revealtheirsources. "

"Everybodycan make good pastry iftheyhave the 'know-how'. "

This use of singulartheyhad emerged by the 14th century, about a century after the pluralthey.Singulartheyhas been criticised since the mid-18th century byprescriptive commentatorswho consider it an error.Its continued use in modernstandard Englishhas become more common and formally accepted with the move towardgender-neutral language.Some early-21st-centurystyle guidesdescribed it ascolloquialand less appropriate in formal writing.However, by 2020, most style guides accepted the singulartheyas apersonal pronoun.

In the early 21st century, use of singulartheywith known individuals emerged fornon-binary people,as in, for example, "This is my friend,Jay.I metthemat work. "Theyin this context was namedWord of the Yearfor 2015 by theAmerican Dialect Society,and for 2019 byMerriam-Webster.In 2020, the American Dialect Society also selected it asWord of the Decadefor the 2010s.

Inflected forms and derivative pronouns

Like the "singularyou","singularthey"permits a singular antecedent, but is used with the same verb forms as pluralthey,and has the same inflected forms as pluralthey(i.e.them,their,andtheirs),except that in the reflexive form,themselfis sometimes used instead ofthemselves.

Inflected forms of third-person personal pronouns

Pronoun	Subjective (nominative)	Objective (accusative)	Prenominal possessive (dependent genitive)	Predicative possessive (independent genitive)	Reflexive
He	Heis my son.	When my son cries, I hughim.	My son tells mehisage.	If I lose my phone, my son lends mehis.	My son dresseshimself.
She	Sheis my daughter.	When my daughter cries, I hugher.	My daughter tells meherage.	If I lose my phone, my daughter lends mehers.	My daughter dressesherself.
Pluralthey	Theyare my children.	When my children cry, I hugthem.	My children tell metheirages.	If I lose my phone, my children lend metheirs.	My children dressthemselves.
Singularthey	Theyare my child.	When my child cries, I hugthem.	My child tells metheirage.	If I lose my phone, my child lends metheirs.	My child dressesthemself[orthemselves].
Generiche	Heis my child.	When my child cries, I hughim.	My child tells mehisage.	If I lose my phone, my child lends mehis.	My child dresseshimself.
It	Itis my child.	When my child cries, I hugit.	My child tells meitsage.	If I lose my phone, my child lends meits.	My child dressesitself.

Themselfis attested from the 14th to 16th centuries. Its use has been increasing since the 1970sor 1980s,though it is sometimes still classified as "a minority form".In 2002, Payne andHuddleston,inThe Cambridge Grammar of the English Language,called its use in standard dialect "rare and acceptable only to a minority of speakers" but "likely to increase with the growing acceptance oftheyas a singular pronoun ".It is useful when referring to a single person of indeterminate gender, where the plural formthemselvesmight seem incongruous, as in:

"It is not an actor pretending to be Reagan or Thatcher, it is, in grotesque form, the person themself."

— Ian Hislop(1984),Fowler's

Regional preferences

The Canadian government recommendsthemselvesas the reflexive form of singulartheyfor use in Canadian federal legislative texts and advises against usingthemself.

Usage

Further information:Gender neutrality in languages with gendered third-person pronouns

Theywith a singular antecedent goes back to theMiddle Englishof the 14th century(slightly younger thantheywith a plural antecedent, which was borrowed fromOld Norsein the 13th century),and has remained in use for centuries in spite of its proscription by traditional grammarians beginning in the mid-18th century.

Informal spoken English exhibits universal use of the singularthey.An examination by Jürgen Gerner of theBritish National Corpuspublished in 1998 found that British speakers, regardless of social status, age, sex, or region, used the singulartheymore often than the gender-neutralheor other options in the context of being anaphors after indefinite pronouns like "everybody" and "anybody".

Prescription of generiche

Hehas been used with antecedents of indeterminate gender since theOld Englishperiod,as in the following:

"Ifany onedid not know it, it washisown fault. "

— George Washington Cable,Old Creole Days(1879);quoted by Baskervill & Sewell.

"Every personwho turns this page hashisown little diary. "

— W. M. Thackeray,On Lett's Diary(1869);Baskervill & Sewell,An English Grammar.

The earliest known explicit recommendation by a grammarian to use the genericherather thantheyin formal English isAnn Fisher's mid-18th centuryA New Grammarassertion that "TheMasculine Personanswers to thegeneral Name,which comprehends bothMaleandFemale;as,any Person who knows what he says."(Ann Fisheras quoted by Ostade)

Nineteenth-century grammarians insisted onheas a gender-neutral pronoun on the grounds ofnumber agreement,while rejecting "he or she" as clumsy,and this was widely adopted: e.g. in 1850, the British Parliament passed an act which provided that, when used in acts of Parliament "words importing the masculine gender shall be deemed and taken to include females".Baskervill and Sewell mention the common use of the singulartheyin theirAn English Grammar for the Use of High School, Academy and College Classof 1895, but prefer the genericheon the basis of number agreement.

Baskervill gives a number of examples of recognized authors using the singularthey,including:

"Every onemust judge according totheirown feelings. "

— Lord Byron,Werner(1823),quoted as "Every onemust judge of [sic]theirown feelings. "

"Had the Doctor been contented to take my dining tables asany bodyintheirsenses would have done... "

— Jane Austen,Mansfield Park(1814);

It has been argued that the real motivation for promoting the "generic"hewas an androcentric world view, with the default sex of humans being male – and the default gender therefore being masculine.There is some evidence for this: Wilson wrote in 1560:

"... let us keepe a naturall order, and set the man before the woman for manners sake."

— Wilson,The arte of Rhetorique(1560);

"... the worthier is preferred and set before. As a man is set before a woman..."

— Wilson,The arte of Rhetorique(1560);

And Poole wrote in 1646:

"The Masculine gender is more worthy than the Feminine."

— Poole,The English Accidence(1646);cited by Bodine

In spite of continuous attempts on the part of educationalists to proscribe singulartheyin favour ofhe,this advice was ignored; even writers of the period continued to usethey(though the proscription may have been observed more by American writers).Use of the purportedly gender-neutralheremained acceptable until at least the 1960s,though some uses ofhewere later criticized as being awkward or silly, for instance when referring to:

• Indeterminate persons of both sexes:

"The ideal thatevery boy and girlshould be so equipped thatheshall not be handicapped inhisstruggle for social progress... "

— C. C. Fries,American English Grammar,(1940).

• Known persons of both sexes:

"She and Louis had a game – who could find the ugliest photograph of himself."

— Joseph P. Lash,Eleanor and Franklin(1971)

Contemporary use ofheto refer to a generic or indefinite antecedent

Heis still sometimes found in contemporary writing when referring to a generic or indeterminate antecedent. In some cases, it is clear from the situation that the persons potentially referred to are likely to be male, as in:

"The patient should be informed of his therapeutic options."

— a text about prostate cancer (2004)

In some cases the antecedent may refer to persons who are onlyprobablymale or to occupations traditionally thought of as male:

"It wouldn't be as ifthe lone astronautwould be completely byhimself."(2008)

"Kitchen table issues... are onesthe next presidentcan actually do something about ifheactually cares about it. More likely if she cares about it! "

— Hillary Rodham Clinton (2008)

In other situations, the antecedent may refer to an indeterminate person of either sex:

"Now, a writer is entitled to have a Roget onhisdesk. "

— Barzun (1985),quoted inMerriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage

"A Member of Parliament should always live inhisconstituency. "

In 2010, Choy and Clark still recommend the use of generiche"in formal speech or writing":

"... when indefinite pronouns are used as antecedents, they requiresingularsubject, object, and possessive pronouns... "
"Everyonedid ashepleased "

— Choy, Basic Grammar and Usage

In informal spoken English, plural pronouns are often used with indefinite pronoun antecedents. However, this construction is generally not considered appropriate in formal speech or writing.

Informal:Somebodyshould let you borrowtheirbook.
Formal:Somebodyshould let you borrowhisbook.

— Choy, Basic Grammar and Usage

In 2015,Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usagecalls this "the now outmoded use ofheto mean 'anyone'",stating:

From the earliest times until about the 1960s it was unquestionably acceptable to use the pronounhe(andhim,himself,his) with indefinite reference to denote a person of either sex, especially after indefinite pronouns and determiners such asanybody,...every,etc., after gender-neutral nouns such asperson... [but] alternative devices are now usually resorted to. When a gender-neutral pronoun or determiner... is needed, the options usually adopted are the plural formsthey,their,themselves,etc., orhe or she(his or her,etc.)

In 2016,Garner's Modern Englishcalls the generic use of masculine pronouns "the traditional view, now widely assailed as sexist".

Rise of gender-neutral language

The earliest known attempt to create a new gender-neutral pronoun in English dates back to 1792, when Scottish economist James Anderson advocated for an indeterminate pronounou.

In 1808, poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge suggesteditandwhichas neutral pronouns for the wordperson:

In the second half of the 20th century, people expressed more widespread concern at the use of male-oriented language.This included criticism of the use ofmanas a generic term to include men and women and of the use ofheto refer to any human, regardless of sex (social gender).

It was argued thathecould not sensibly be used as a generic pronoun understood to include men and women.William Safirein hisOn Languagecolumn inThe New York Timesapproved of the use of generiche,mentioning the mnemonic phrase "the male embraces the female".C. Badendyck from Brooklyn wrote to theNew York Timesin a reply:

The average American needs the small routines of getting ready for work. As he shaves or blow-dries his hair or pulls on his panty-hose, he is easing himself by small stages into the demands of the day.

By 1980, the movement toward gender-neutral language had gained wide support, and many organizations, including most publishers, had issued guidelines on the use of gender-neutral language,but stopped short of recommendingtheyto be third-person singular with a non-indeterminate, singular antecedent.

Contemporary usage

The use of masculine generic nouns and pronouns in written and spoken language has decreased since the 1970s. In a corpus of spontaneous speech collected in Australia in the 1990s, singulartheyhad become the most frequently used generic pronoun (rather than genericheorhe or she).Similarly, a study from 2002 looking at a corpus of American and British newspapers showed a preference fortheyto be used as a singular epicene pronoun.

The increased use of singulartheymay owe in part to an increasing desire forgender-neutral language.A solution in formal writing has often been to write "he or she ",or something similar, but this is often considered awkward or overlypolitically correct,particularly when used excessively.In 2016, the journalAmerican Speechpublished a study by Darren K. LaScotte investigating the pronouns used by native English speakers in informal written responses to questions concerning a subject of unspecified gender, finding that 68% of study participants chose singulartheyto refer to such an antecedent. Some participants noted that they found constructions such as "he or she" inadequate as they do not include people whoidentify as neither male nor female.

Theyin this context was named Word of the Year for 2019 by Merriam-Websterand for 2015 by the American Dialect Society.On January 4, 2020, the American Dialect Society announced they had crownedthey,again in this context, Word of the Decade for the 2010s.

Use with a pronoun antecedent

The singular antecedent can be a pronoun such assomeone,anybody,oreverybody,or an interrogative pronoun such aswho:

• Withsomebodyorsomeone:

"I feel that ifsomeoneis not doingtheirjob it should be called totheirattention. "

— an American newspaper (1984); quoted by Fowler.

• Withanybodyoranyone:

"Ifanyonetells you that America's best days are behind her, thenthey're looking the wrong way. "President George Bush, 1991 State of the Union Address;quoted by Garner

"Anyonecan setthemselvesup as an acupuncturist. "

— Sarah Lonsdale, "Sharp Practice Pricks Reputation of Acupuncture".Observer15 December 1991, as cited by Garner

"Ifanybodycalls, taketheirname and askthemto call again later. "Example given by Swan

"It will be illegal foranyoneto donate an organ totheirwife, husband, adopted child, adopted parent or close friend. "

• Withnobodyorno one:

"No oneputtheirhand up. "Example given by Huddleston et al.

"No onefelttheyhad been misled. "Example given by Huddleston et al.

• With an interrogative pronoun as antecedent:

"Whothinkstheycan solve the problem? ". Example given by Huddleston et al.;The Cambridge Grammar of the English language.

• Witheverybody,everyone,etc.:

"Everyonepromised to behavethemselves."Example given by Huddleston et al.

Notional plurality or pairwise relationships

Although the pronounseverybody,everyone,nobody,andno oneare singular in form and are used with a singular verb, these pronouns have an "implied plurality" that is somewhat similar to the implied plurality of collective or group nouns such ascrowdorteam,and in some sentences where the antecedent is one of these "implied plural" pronouns, the wordtheycannot be replaced by generiche,suggesting a "notional plural" rather than a "bound variable" interpretation (see§ Grammatical and logical analysis,below). This is in contrast to sentences that involve multiple pairwise relationships and singularthey,such as:

"Everyonelovestheirmother. "

"'I never did get into that football thing', she said aftereveryonereturned totheirseat. "

"Everyonedoubtsthemselves/themselfat one time or another. "

There are examples where the antecedent pronoun (such aseveryone) may refer to a collective, with no necessary implication of pairwise relationships. These are examples of pluralthey:

"At firsteveryonein the room was singing; thentheybegan to laugh. "Example given by Kolln.

"Everybodywas crouched behind the furniture to surprise me, andtheytried to. But I already knewtheywere there. "Example given by Garner.

"Nobodywas late, werethey?"Example given by Swan.

Which are apparent because they do not work with a genericheorhe or she:

"At firsteveryonein the room was singing; thenhe or shebegan to laugh. "Example given by Kolln.

"Everybodywas crouched behind the furniture to surprise me, andhetried to. But I already knewhewas there. "

"Nobodywas late, washe?"

In addition, for these "notional plural" cases, it would not be appropriate to usethemselfinstead ofthemselvesas in:

"Everybodywas crouched behind the furniture to surprise me, buttheyinstead surprisedthemself."

Use with a generic noun as antecedent

The singular antecedent can also be a noun such asperson,patient,orstudent:

• With a noun (e.g. person, student, patient) used generically (e.g. in the sense of any member of that class or a specific member unknown to the speaker or writer)

"cognitive dissonance:" a concept in psychology [that] describes the condition in whicha person'sattitudes conflict withtheirbehaviour ".

— Macmillan Dictionary of Business and Management(1988), as cited by Garner.

"A starting point would be to give more support tothe company secretary.Theyare, or should be, privy to the confidential deliberations and secrets of the board and the company.

— Ronald Severn, "Protecting the Secretary Bird".Financial Times,6 January 1992; quoted by Garner.

• With representatives of a class previously referred to in the singular

"I had to decide: Isthis personbeing irrational or is he right? Of course,theywere often right. "

Even when referring to a class of persons of known sex,theyis sometimes used:

"I swear more when I'm talking toa boy,because I'm not afraid of shockingthem".From an interview.

"No mothershould be forced to testify againsttheirchild ".

Theymay also be used with antecedents of mixed genders:

"Let me know ifyour father or your motherchangestheirmind. "Example given by Huddleston et al.

"Eitherthe husband or the wifehas perjuredthemself."Herethemselfmight be acceptable to some,themselvesseems less acceptable, andhimselfis unacceptable. Example given by Huddleston et al.

Even for a definite known person of known sex,theymay be used in order to ignore or conceal the sex.

"I hada friendin Paris, andtheyhad to go to hospital for a month. "(definite person, not identified)

The wordthemselfis also sometimes used when the antecedent is known or believed to be a single person.

"Someonehas apparently lockedthemselfin the office. "[acceptability questionable]

Use for specific, known people, including non-binary people

Known individuals may be referred to astheyif the individual's gender is unknown to the speaker.

A known individual may also be referred to astheyif the individual isnon-binary or genderqueerand considerstheyand derivatives as appropriate pronouns.Several social media applications permit account holders to choose to identify their gender using one of a variety of non-binary or genderqueer options,such asgenderfluid,agender,orbigender,and to designate pronouns, includingthey/them,which they wish to be used when referring to them.Explicitly designating one's pronouns asthey/themincreases the chance that people will interpret "they" as singular.Though "singularthey"has long been used with antecedents such aseverybodyor generic persons of unknown gender, this use, which may be chosen by an individual, is recent.The earliest recorded usage of this sense documented by theOxford English Dictionaryis in a tweet from 2009;the journalAmerican Speechdocuments an example from 2008 in an article in the journalWomen's Studies Quarterly.As of 2020, singulartheyis the most popular pronoun set used by non-binary people. Approximately 80% consider it appropriate for themselves.

The singulartheyin the meaning "gender-neutral singular pronoun for a known person, as a non-binary identifier"was chosen by theAmerican Dialect Societyas their "Word of the Year" for 2015.In 2016, the American Dialect Society wrote:

"While editors have increasingly moved to accepting singular they when used in a generic fashion, voters in the Word of the Year proceedings singled out its newer usage as an identifier for someone who may identify as non-binary in gender terms."

The vote followed the previous year's approval of this use byThe Washington Poststyle guide, whenBill Walsh,thePost's copy editor, said that the singulartheyis "the only sensible solution to English's lack of a gender-neutral third-person singular personal pronoun".

In 2019, the non-binarytheywas added toMerriam-Webster's dictionary.

The first non-binary main character on North American television appeared on theShowtimedrama seriesBillionsin 2017, withAsia Kate Dillonplaying Taylor Mason.Both actor and character use singularthey.

Acceptability and prescriptive guidance

Though both genericheand generictheyhave long histories of use, and both are still used, both are also systematically avoided by particular groups.

Style guidesthat avoid expressing a preference for either approach sometimes recommend recasting a problem sentence, for instance replacing generic expressions with plurals to avoid the criticisms of either party.

Sources differ about whether singulartheyis more accepted in British or American English, withGarner's Modern English Usagestating British EnglishandA Comprehensive Grammar of the English Languagestating American English.

Usage guidance in American style guides

Garner's Modern American Usage

Garner's Modern American Usage(4th ed., 2016) recommends cautious use of singularthey,and avoidance where possible because its use is stigmatized.

"Where noun–pronoun disagreement can be avoided, avoid it. Where it can't be avoided, resort to it cautiously because some people may doubt your literacy".

Garner suggests that use of singulartheyis more acceptable in British English:

"Speakers ofAmEresist this development more than speakers ofBrE,in which the indeterminatetheyis already more or less standard. "

and apparently regrets the resistance by the American language community:

"That it sets many literate Americans' teeth on edge is an unfortunate obstacle to what promises to be the ultimate solution to the problem."

He regards the trend toward using singulartheywith antecedents likeeverybody,anyoneandsomebodyas inevitable:

"Disturbing though these developments may be to purists, they're irreversible. And nothing that a grammarian says will change them."

Garner also notes that "resistance to the singulartheyis fast receding "in all national varieties of English.

The Chicago Manual of Style

In the 14th edition (1993) ofThe Chicago Manual of Style,the University of Chicago Press explicitly recommended using singulartheyandtheir,noting a "revival" of this usage and citing "its venerable use by such writers as Addison, Austen, Chesterfield, Fielding, Ruskin, Scott, and Shakespeare." From the 15th edition (2003), this was changed. In Chapter 5 of the 17th edition (2017), now written byBryan A. Garner,the recommendations are:

Normally, a singular antecedent requires a singular pronoun. But becauseheis no longer universally accepted as a generic pronoun referring to a person of unspecified gender, people commonly (in speech and in informal writing) substitute the third-person-plural pronounsthey,them,their,andthemselves(or the nonstandard singularthemself). While this usage is accepted in those spheres, it is only lately showing signs of gaining acceptance in formal writing, where Chicago recommends avoiding its use. When referring specifically to a person who does not identify with a gender-specific pronoun, however,theyand its forms are often preferred.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

The 7th edition of theAmerican Psychological Association'sPublication Manual,released in October 2019, advises using singular "they" when gender is unknown or irrelevant, and gives the following example:

For instance, rather than writing "I don't know who wrote this note, but he or she has good handwriting," you might write something like "I don't know who wrote this note, but they have good handwriting."

APA style also endorses usingthey/themif it is someone's (for example, anon-binaryperson's) preferred pronoun set.

Strunk & White'sThe Elements of Style

William Strunk Jr.&E. B. White,the original authors ofThe Elements of Style,found use oftheywith a singular antecedent unacceptable and advised use of the singular pronoun (he). In the 3rd edition (1979), the recommendation was still:

They.Not to be used when the antecedent is a distributive expression, such aseach,each one.everybody,every one,many a man.Use the singular pronoun.... A similar fault is the use of the plural pronoun with the antecedentanybody,anyone,somebody,someone....

The assessment, in 1979, was that:

The use ofheas pronoun for nouns embracing both genders is a simple, practical convention rooted in the beginnings of the English language.Hehas lost all suggestion of maleness in these circumstances.... It has no pejorative connotation; it is never incorrect.

In the 4th edition (2000), use of singulartheywas still proscribed against, but use of generichewas no longer recommended.

Joseph M. Williams'sThe Basics of Clarity and Grace(2009)

Joseph M. Williams,who wrote a number of books on writing with "clarity and grace",discusses the advantages and disadvantages of various solutions when faced with the problem of referring to an antecedent such assomeone,everyone,no oneor a noun that does not indicate gender and suggests that this will continue to be a problem for some time. He "suspect[s] that eventually we will accept the pluraltheyas a correct singular "but states that currently" formal usage requires a singular pronoun ".

Purdue Online Writing Lab

ThePurdue Online Writing Lab(OWL) states that "grammar shifts and changes over time", that the use of singulartheyis acceptable,and that singular "they" as a replacement for "he" or "she" is more inclusive:

When individuals whose gender is neither male nor female (e.g. nonbinary, agender, genderfluid, etc.) use the singular they to refer to themselves, they are using the language to express their identities. Adopting this language is one way writers can be inclusive of a range of people and identities.

— Purdue Writing Lab

The Washington Post

The Washington Post'sstylebook, as of 2015, recommends trying to "write around the problem, perhaps by changing singulars to plurals, before using the singular they as a last resort" and specifically permits use oftheyfor a "gender-nonconforming person".

Associated Press Stylebook

TheAssociated Press Stylebook,as of 2017, recommends: "they/them/theiris acceptable in limited cases as a singular and-or gender-neutral pronoun, when alternative wording is overly awkward or clumsy. However, rewording usually is possible and always is preferable. "

The Handbook of Nonsexist Writing

InThe Handbook of Nonsexist Writing,Casey MillerandKate Swiftaccept or recommend singular uses oftheyin cases where there is an element of semantic plurality expressed by a word such as "everyone" or where an indeterminatepersonis referred to, citing examples of such usage in formal speech.They also suggest rewriting sentences to use a pluralthey,eliminating pronouns, or recasting sentences to use "one" or (for babies) "it".

Usage guidance in British style guides

In the first edition ofA Dictionary of Modern English Usage(published in 1926) use of the genericheis recommended.It is stated that singulartheyis disapproved of by grammarians. Numerous examples of its use by eminent writers in the past are given, but it is stated that "few good modern writers would flout [grammarians] so conspicuously as Fielding and Thackeray", whose sentences are described as having an "old-fashioned sound".

The second edition,Fowler's Modern English Usage(edited by SirErnest Gowersand published in 1965) continues to recommend use of the generiche;use of the singulartheyis called "the popular solution", which "sets the literary man's teeth on edge".It is stated that singulartheyis still disapproved of by grammarians but common in colloquial speech.

According to the third edition,The New Fowler's Modern English Usage(edited byRobert Burchfieldand published in 1996) singulartheyhas not only been widely used by good writers for centuries, but is now generally accepted, except by some conservative grammarians, including the Fowler of 1926, who, it is argued, ignored the evidence:

Over the centuries, writers of standing have usedthey,their,andthemwith anaphoric reference to a singular noun or pronoun, and the practice has continued in the 20C. to the point that, traditional grammarians aside, such constructions are hardly noticed any more or are not widely felt to lie in a prohibited zone. Fowler (1926) disliked the practice... and gave a number of unattributed "faulty' examples... The evidence presented in theOEDpoints in another direction altogether.

The Complete Plain Wordswas originally written in 1948 by Ernest Gowers, a civil servant, in an attempt by the British civil service to improve "official English". A second edition, edited by Sir Bruce Fraser, was published in 1973. It refers totheyorthemas the "equivalent of a singular pronoun of common sex" as "common in speech and not unknown in serious writing" but "stigmatized by grammarians as usage grammatically indefensible. The book's advice for" official writers "(civil servants) is to avoid its use and not to be tempted by its" greater convenience ", though" necessity may eventually force it into the category of accepted idiom ".

A new edition ofPlain Words,revised and updated by Gowers's great-granddaughter, Rebecca Gowers, was published in 2014. It notes that singulartheyandthemhave become much more widespread since Gowers' original comments, but still finds it "safer" to treat a sentence like 'The reader may toss their book aside' as incorrect "in formal English", while rejecting even more strongly sentences like

"There must be opportunity for the individual boy or girl to go as far as his keenness and ability will take him."

The Times Style and Usage Guide(first published in 2003 byThe Timesof London) recommends avoiding sentences like

"If someone loves animals, they should protect them."

by using a plural construction:

"If people love animals, they should protect them."

The Cambridge Guide to English Usage(2004,Cambridge University Press) finds singularthey"unremarkable":

For those listening or reading, it has become unremarkable – an element of common usage.

It expresses several preferences.

• "Generic/universaltheirprovides a gender-free pronoun, avoiding the exclusivehisand the clumsyhis/her.It avoids gratuitous sexism and gives the statement broadest reference...They,them,theirare now freely used in agreement with singular indefinite pronouns and determiners, those with universal implications such as any(one), every(one), no(one), as well as each and some(one), whose reference is often more individual... "

The EconomistStyle Guiderefers to the use oftheyin sentences like

"We can't afford to squander anyone's talents, whatever colour their skin is."

as "scrambled syntax that people adopt because they cannot bring themselves to use a singular pronoun".

New Hart's Rules(Oxford University Press,2012) is aimed at those engaged in copy editing, and the emphasis is on the formal elements of presentation including punctuation and typeface, rather than on linguistic style, although – likeThe Chicago Manual of Style– it makes occasional forays into matters of usage. It advises against use of the purportedly gender-neutralhe,and suggests cautious use oftheywherehe or shepresents problems.

... it is now regarded... as old-fashioned or sexist to usehein reference to a person of unspecified sex, as inevery child needs to know that he is loved.The alternativehe or sheis often preferred, and in formal contexts probably the best solution, but can become tiresome or long-winded when used frequently. Use oftheyin this sense (everyone needs to feel that they matter) is becoming generally accepted both in speech and in writing, especially where it occurs after an indefinite pronoun such aseveryoneorsomeone,but should not be imposed by an editor if an author has usedhe or sheconsistently.

The 2011 edition of theNew International VersionBibleuses singulartheyinstead of the traditionalhewhen translating pronouns that apply to both genders in the original Greek or Hebrew. This decision was based on research by a commission that studied modern English usage and determined that singularthey(them/their) was by far the most common way that English-language speakers and writers today refer back to singular antecedents such aswhoever,anyone,somebody,a person,no one,and the like. "

The British edition ofThe Handbook of Nonsexist Writing,modified in some respects from the original US edition to conform to differences in culture and vocabulary, preserved the same recommendations, allowing singulartheywith semantically plural terms like "everyone" and indeterminate ones like "person", but recommending a rewrite to avoid.

Australian usage guidance

The AustralianFederation Press Style Guide for Use in Preparation of Book Manuscriptsrecommends "gender-neutral language should be used", stating that use oftheyandtheiras singular pronouns is acceptable.

Usage guidance in English grammars

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Languagediscusses the prescriptivist argument thattheyis a plural pronoun and that the use oftheywith a singular "antecedent" therefore violates the rule of agreement between antecedent and pronoun, but takes the view thatthey,thoughprimarilyplural, can also be singular in a secondaryextendedsense, comparable to the purportedly extended sense ofheto include female gender.

Use of singulartheyis stated to be "particularly common", even "stylistically neutral" with antecedents such aseveryone,someone,andno one,but more restricted when referring to common nouns as antecedents, as in

"The patientshould be told at the outset how muchtheywill be required to pay. "

"A friend of minehas asked me to go over and helpthem... "

Use of the pronounthemselfis described as being "rare" and "acceptable only to a minority of speakers", while use of the morphologically pluralthemselvesis considered problematic when referring tosomeonerather thaneveryone(since only the latter implies a plural set).

There are also issues of grammatical acceptability when reflexive pronouns refer to singular noun phrases joined byor,the following all being problematic:

"Either the husband or the wife has perjuredhimself."[ungrammatical]

"Either the husband or the wife has perjuredthemselves."[of questionable grammaticality]

"Either the husband or the wife has perjuredthemself."[typically used by only some speakers of Standard English].

On the motivation for using singularthey,A Student's Introduction to English Grammarstates:

this avoidance ofhecan't be dismissed just as a matter of political correctness. The real problem with usingheis that it unquestionably colours the interpretation, sometimes inappropriately...hedoesn't have a genuinely sex-neutral sense.

The alternativehe or shecan be "far too cumbersome", as in:

"Everyoneagreed that he or she would bring his or her lunch withhim or her.

or even "flatly ungrammatical", as in

"Everyone'shere, isn'the or she?

"Among younger speakers", use of singulartheyeven with definite noun-phrase antecedents finds increasing acceptance, "sidestepping any presumption about the sex of the person referred to", as in:

"You should askyour partnerwhattheythink. "

"The personI was with saidtheyhated the film. "Example given by Huddleston et al.

Older style guides (not newly published after 2000)

According toA Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language(1985):

The pronountheyis commonly used as a 3rd person singular pronoun that is neutral between masculine and feminine... At one time restricted to informal usage. it is now increasingly accepted in formal usage, especially in [American English].

The Little, Brown Handbook(1992)

According toThe Little, Brown Handbook,most experts – and some teachers and employers – find use of singulartheyunacceptable:

Although some experts acceptthey,them,andtheirwith singular indefinite words, most do not, and many teachers and employers regard the plural as incorrect. To be safe, work for agreement between singular indefinite words and the pronouns that refer to them....

It recommends usinghe or sheor avoiding the problem by rewriting the sentence to use a plural or omit the pronoun.

The American Heritage Book of English Usage (1996)

According toThe American Heritage Book of English Usageand its usage panel of selected writers, journalism professors, linguists, and other experts, many Americans avoid use oftheyto refer to a singular antecedent out of respect for a "traditional" grammatical rule, despite use of singulartheyby modern writers of note and mainstream publications:

Most of the Usage Panel rejects the use oftheywith singular antecedents as ungrammatical, even in informal speech. Eighty-two percent find the sentenceThe typical student in the program takes about six years to complete their course workunacceptable... panel members seem to make a distinction between singular nouns, such asthe typical studentanda person,and pronouns that are grammatically singular but semantically plural, such asanyone,everyoneandno one.Sixty-four percent of panel members accept the sentenceNo one is willing to work for those wages anymore, are they?

Grammatical and logical analysis

Notional agreement

Notional agreementis the idea that some uses oftheymight refer to a grammatically singular antecedent seen as semantically plural:

"'Tis meet that some more audience thana mother,since nature makesthempartial, should o'erhear the speech. "

— Shakespeare,Hamlet(1599);quoted inMerriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage.

"No mangoes to battle to be killed. "..." Buttheydo get killed. "

— George Bernard Shaw,quoted inMerriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage

According tonotional agreement,in the Shakespeare quotationa motheris syntactically singular, but stands for all mothers;and in the Shaw quotationno manis syntactically singular (taking the singular formgoes), but is semantically plural (allgo [to kill] not to be killed), hence idiomatically requiringthey.Such use, which goes back a long way, includes examples where the sex is known, as in the above examples.

Distribution

Distributive constructions apply asingleidea tomultiplemembers of a group. They are typically marked in English by words likeeach,everyandany.The simplest examples are applied to groups of two, and use words likeeitherandor– "Would you like tea or coffee?". Since distributive constructions apply an idea relevant to each individual in the group, rather than to the group as a whole, they are most often conceived of as singular, and a singular pronoun is used:

"England expects that every man will do his duty."

— Nelson(1805), referring to a fleet crewed by male sailors)

"Every dog hath his day."

— John Ray,A Collection of English Proverbs(1670), originally fromPlutarch,Moralia,c. 95 AD, regarding the death ofEuripides.

However, many languages, including English, show ambivalence in this regard. Because distribution also requires a group with more than one member, plural forms are sometimes used.

Referential and non-referential anaphors

The singularthey,which uses the same verb form that plurals do, is typically used to refer to an indeterminate antecedent, for example:

"Thepersonyou mentioned, aretheycoming? "

In some sentences, typically those including words likeeveryorany,the morphologically singular antecedent does not refer to a single entity but is "anaphoricallylinked "to the associated pronoun to indicate a set of pairwise relationships, as in the sentence:

"Everyonereturned totheirseats. "(where each person is associated with one seat)

Linguists likeSteven PinkerandRodney Huddlestonexplain sentences like this (and others) in terms ofbound variables,a term borrowed fromlogic.Pinker prefers the termsquantifierandbound variabletoantecedentandpronoun.He suggests that pronouns used as "variables" in this way are more appropriately regarded ashomonymsof the equivalent referential pronouns.

The following shows different types of anaphoric reference, using various pronouns, includingthey:

• Coreferential, with a definite antecedent (the antecedent and the anaphoric pronoun both refer to the same real-world entity):

"Yourwifephoned butshedidn't leave a message. "

• Coreferential with an indefinite antecedent:

"One of yourgirlfriendsphoned, butshedidn't leave a message. "

"One of yourboyfriendsphoned, buthedidn't leave a message. "

"One of yourfriendsphoned, buttheydidn't leave a message. "

• Reference to a hypothetical, indefinite entity

"If you had an unemployeddaughter,what would you think ifshewanted to accept work as a mercenary? "

"If you had an unemployedchild,what would you think iftheywanted to accept work as a mercenary? "

• A bound variable pronoun is anaphorically linked to a quantifier (no single real-world or hypothetical entity is referenced; examples and explanations from Huddleston and Pullum,The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language):

"No oneputtheirhand up. "[approximately:" There is no personxsuch thatxputx's hand up. "]

"Every carhaditswindscreen broken. "[approximately:" For every carx,xhadx's windscreen broken. "]

Cognitive efficiency

A study of whether "singularthey"is more" difficult "to understand than gendered pronouns found that" singulartheyis a cognitively efficient substitute for genericheorshe,particularly when the antecedent is nonreferential "(e.g.anybody,a nurse,ora truck driver) rather than referring to a specific person (e.g.a runner I knewormy nurse). Clauses with singulartheywere read "just as quickly as clauses containing a gendered pronoun that matched the stereotype of the antecedent" (e.g.shefor a nurse andhefor a truck driver) and "much more quickly than clauses containing a gendered pronoun that went against the gender stereotype of the antecedent".

On the other hand, when the pronountheywas used to refer to known individuals ( "referential antecedents, for which the gender was presumably known", e.g.my nurse,that truck driver,a runner I knew), reading was slowed when compared with use of a gendered pronoun consistent with the "stereotypic gender" (e.g.hefor a specific truck driver).

The study concluded that "the increased use of singulartheyis not problematic for the majority of readers ".

A 2024 study by Arnold, Venkatesh, and Vig stated that two-thirds of people used an incorrect pronoun at least once in speaking about someone who used singularthey,versus never when speaking about someone who usedheorshe,suggesting that singulartheycaused some difficulty, but the rate of errors was low (9%). They wrote that whereas people may repeat a name to avoid using the pronountheyin writing, in speech people used singulartheyat least as frequently as binary pronouns, "suggesting that any difficulty does not result in pronoun avoidance" in speech.

Comparison with other pronouns

The singular and plural use oftheycan be compared with the pronounyou,which had been both a plural andpolite singular,but by the 18th century replacedthoufor singular referents.For "you", the singularreflexive pronoun( "yourself") is different from its plural reflexive pronoun ("yourselves"); with" they "one can hear either"themself"or"themselves"for the singular reflexive pronoun.

Singular "they" has also been compared tonosism(such as the "royal we"), when a single person uses first-person plural in place of first-person singular pronouns.Similar to singular "you", its singular reflexive pronoun ( "ourself") is different from the plural reflexive pronoun ("ourselves").

While the pronoun set derived fromitis primarily used for inanimate objects,itis frequently used in an impersonal context when someone's identity is unknown or established on a provisional basis, e.g. "Who isit?"or" With this new haircut, no one knowsitis me. "Itis also used for infants of unspecified gender but may be considered dehumanizing and is therefore more likely in a clinical context. Otherwise, in more personal contexts, the use ofitto refer to a person might indicate antipathy or other negative emotions.

Itcan also be used for non-human animals of unspecified sex, thoughtheyis common for pets and other domesticated animals of unspecified sex, especially when referred to by a proper name(e.g.Rags,Snuggles). Normally, birds and mammals with a known sex are referred to by their respective male or female pronoun (heandshe;himandher).

See also

• English personal pronouns
• Gender neutrality in English
• Notional agreement
• Spivak pronoun
• Third-person pronoun#Historical, regional, and proposed gender-neutral singular pronouns
• Neopronoun
• Gender neutrality in languages with gendered third-person pronouns

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Further reading

• Amia Srinivasan,"He, She, One, They, Ho, Hus, Hum, Ita" (review of Dennis Baron,What's Your Pronoun? Beyond He and She,Liveright, 2020,ISBN978 1 63149 6042,304 pp.),London Review of Books,vol. 42, no. 13 (2 July 2020), pp. 34–39. Srinivasan writes (p. 39): "People use non-standardpronouns,or use pronouns in non-standard ways, for various reasons: to accord with their sense of themselves, to make their passage through the world less painful, to prefigure and hasten the arrival of a world in which divisions of sex no longer matter. So too we can choose to respect people's pronouns for many reasons. "

External links

• "Anyone who had a heart (would know their own language)"by Geoff Pullum. Transcript of a radio talk.
• A brief history of singular 'they'(OED word stories, Dennis Baron)