What is a Singular They?
Usually, we see the personal pronoun “they” (and its variants “them,” “their," “theirs," “themselves”) as a plural pronoun. It refers back to a plural noun.
"They” referring back to plural nouns
— Where are your shoes?
— They’re under the chair.
My friends and their families are coming to my party.
My students are proud of themselves because they passed the course.
In some situations, “they” works as a singular pronoun. It refers back to a singular noun. Look at the examples below.
”They” referring back to a singular noun
In these sentences, “they” refers back to singular nouns or pronouns (a student, every student, someone, anyone). These are good examples of the singular “they.”
If anyone calls me when I am not here, please ask them if they can come to my office in person.
When someone needs help, they should see a tutor.
Every student needs to complete all their homework.
When a student completes a course with high grades, they can be proud of themselves.
Avoiding Sexist Language
In the examples, the nouns or pronouns do not have a gender (masculine or feminine). Using “he” to refer to “every student" makes the language sexist. To avoid that, you can say use “he or she” as in, for example,
If anyone calls me when I am not here, please ask him or her if he or she can come to my office in person.”
When a student completes a course with high grades, he or she can be proud of himself or herself.
You can see that using “he or she” can get repetitive and difficult to read. That is why people prefer to use “they” even when it refers back to a singular noun or pronoun.
Is the Singular They Grammatical?
The singular “they” is not new in the language. It was part of spoken and written English in the 1300s.
More and more publishers and grammarians (people who study grammar) now accept it as part of standard grammar. It is especially useful to avoid awkward, repetitive constructions with “he or she.”
If You Want to Avoid the Singular They
If for some reason you want to or need to avoid using the singular “they,” you can use one of the strategies below.
Strategy: Change the Noun or Pronoun to Plural
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Do Not Say
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Say
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Each student has his or her own book.
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Students have their own books.
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If anyone calls, tell them I’ll be back tomorrow.
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If any clients call, tell them I’ll be back tomorrow.
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No one can bring their phones into the examination room.
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Test takers cannot bring their phones into the examination room.
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Strategy: Rewrite the Sentence
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Do Not Say
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Say
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Anyone who is going with us needs to bring their own food.
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If you are going with us, you need to bring your own food.
Those interested in going with us need to bring their own food.
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If anyone calls, tell them I’ll be back tomorrow.
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Please tell callers that I’ll be back tomorrow.
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No one can bring their phones into the examination room.
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Phones are not allowed in the examination room.
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Practice
Practice 1. Revise or rewrite sentences to remove the singular “they.”
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