Everyone on the team finished ____ homework before practice. Which pronoun best fills the blank according to modern standard usage?
Ahis
Bhis or her
Ctheir
Dits
'Everyone' is an indefinite pronoun. Traditionally it was treated as grammatically singular (requiring 'his' or 'his or her'), but this produces awkward phrasing and carries gender assumptions. Modern style guides — including Chicago, APA, and MLA — now endorse singular 'they' as the standard solution for indefinite antecedents. 'Its' (option D) is used for non-human referents and would be incorrect here.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
Neither the players nor the coach brought ____ notes to the meeting. Which pronoun is correct?
Atheir — agreeing with the plural 'players'
Bhis or her — using both genders since it's a mixed group
Cher — agreeing with the closest antecedent, 'coach'
Dits — using neuter for the group as a whole
When antecedents are joined by 'or' or 'nor,' the pronoun agrees with the closest antecedent — the one immediately before the verb. Here 'coach' (singular) is closest, so the pronoun is singular: 'her' (or 'his' if the coach is male, or 'their' for gender-neutral). This proximity rule is counterintuitive because students expect agreement with the whole compound, but 'or/nor' presents alternatives, not combinations.
Question 3 True / False
The sentence 'Everyone forgot their lunch' is grammatically incorrect because 'everyone' is singular and is expected to take a singular pronoun like 'his' or 'her.'
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
Singular 'they' is now widely accepted as the standard pronoun for indefinite antecedents like 'everyone,' 'someone,' and 'each.' Major style guides (Chicago, APA, MLA) endorse it. Moreover, singular 'they' has a long history in English — Shakespeare used it. The insistence on 'his' or 'his or her' reflects older prescriptive grammar, not current standard usage.
Question 4 True / False
In American English, the sentence 'The committee submitted their report' would typically be revised to 'The committee submitted its report.'
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: True
Collective nouns (team, committee, jury, class) are grammatically singular in American English and take singular pronouns: 'its.' In British English, collective nouns often take plural pronouns ('their'), so 'The committee submitted their report' is standard there. Neither is wrong in its dialect — but American writers should default to 'its' for collective nouns, and consistency within a document is essential.
Question 5 Short Answer
Why has singular 'they' become the standard pronoun for indefinite antecedents like 'everyone' or 'someone'? What problem does it solve?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Indefinite pronouns like 'everyone' are grammatically singular but refer to people of any gender. The traditional workaround ('his or her') is cumbersome and breaks down in sentences with multiple indefinite pronouns. Singular 'they' solves this by providing a gender-neutral singular pronoun that is both natural in speech and now endorsed by major style guides. It also avoids the gender assumption embedded in default 'he.'
The shift to singular 'they' reflects descriptive grammar — the recognition that 'they' has always been used as a singular in informal English ('someone left their umbrella') and that formal usage should align with natural speech rather than enforce an awkward alternative. Understanding this helps students apply the rule correctly without either rejecting 'they' as wrong or ignoring the grammatical issue entirely.