Pronouns must be the most problematic part of grammar, at least they make my list of top five grammar rule violations...actually, top two. It's a toss-up between pronouns and the misuse of apostrophes in plurals. We'll get to that eventually, trust me.
Grammar Girl addresses the problem of using they as a single pronoun when writing about one unknown person. To explain, I'm using her example from pages 59 - 61 of Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing:
How would you complete this sentence, "When a student succeeds, ___ should thank ____ teacher"?
he should thank his teacher
she should thank her teacher
he or she should thank his or her teacher
they should thank their teacher
The general rule is that you don't use a plural pronoun with a singular antecedent. Therefore, either combination of he/his or she/her would be correct, rather than using they/their. But some contend that, when speaking of an unknown person, using he or she is sexist, and using he or she is awkward.
Here's Grammar Girl's solution: "When I am confronted with this problem, I first take the Chicago [Manual of Style] route and ask if there is any way to avoid the problem. Usually this involves simply making the original noun plural. You could say, 'When students succeed, they should thank their teacher.' Sometimes more extensive writing is required, and if necessary, I'll do it. I would rewrite a whole paragraph if it meant I could avoid the problem. Rewriting is almost always possible, but if it isn't then you have to make a choice."
More pronoun problems will be addressed in the future - we've only just begun!
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