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In my discussion of the plural pronoun “they” in last week’s
column, I pointed out that although its usage is rather simple and
straightforward, it does present some exasperating complications
when used to refer to the indefinite pronouns “everyone,”
“anyone,” and “someone.” I then asked which of the following
sentences is correct: “Everyone realized they were mistaken.”
“Everyone realized he [or she] was mistaken.”
My grudging answer is that both are correct, and
I must quickly add that this aspect of English grammar remains
controversial. This is because the indefinite pronoun “everyone”
may be plural in sense but is considered grammatically singular.
Some grammarians therefore insist that it’s unnatural for the
plural “they” to stand for “everyone.” On the other hand,
it’s so cumbersome to be always using “he or she” to indicate
the gender uncertainty in the pronoun “everyone.” And then some
grammarians, insisting that the pronoun “his” is strongly
gender-biased toward males, bristle at its use when “everyone”
is the antecedent pronoun.
All of these usage problems arise from the fact
that for all its vaunted richness as a language, English doesn’t
have a common-gender third person singular pronoun for referring to
the indefinite pronouns “everyone,” “anyone,” and
“someone.” (Our own Tagalog is much better off in this respect,
having the singular “siya” and “niya” and the plural
“sila” and “nila” as common-gender third person pronouns, as
in “Alam ng bawat isa na nagkakamali siya” and “Alam ng lahat
na nagkakamali sila.” In Tagalog, therefore, the matter of unknown
gender doesn’t muddle the pronoun picture.)
Thus, over the centuries, English speakers had
little choice but to use the plural pronouns “they” and
“their” to refer to the indefinite pronouns, as in the following
sentences: “Everyone should study if they want to pass this
course.” “Anyone in their proper senses wouldn’t do such a
hideous thing.” “Someone is going to suffer for their
irresponsibility.” This usage came to be known as the singular
“they” and “their.” In the late 1800s, however, English
grammarians under the spell of Latin attacked this usage as bad
grammar and prescribed the use of the masculine “he” and
“his” as default pronouns in such cases: “Everyone should
study if he wants to pass this course.” “Anyone in his proper
senses wouldn’t do such a hideous thing.” “Someone is going to
suffer for his irresponsibility.”
In our present time of gender equality, however,
there’s increasing pressure to avoid this male-biased usage of the
pronouns “he” and “his.” Many particularly careful writers
thus prefer to use “he or she” and “his or her” as a
politically correct, non-sexist compromise: “Everyone should study
if he or she wants to pass this course.” “Anyone in his or her
proper senses wouldn’t do such a hideous thing.” “Someone is
going to suffer for his or her irresponsibility.” It’s obvious,
though, that using “his or her” repetitively in such situations
could become an eyesore in print and annoyingly tiresome in speech.
In my case, therefore, I take recourse whenever
possible to the “zero pronoun” option, which means constructing
sentences in a way that avoids the third-person pronouns altogether.
See how this works in the case of the three sentences that we have
been using as examples: “Everyone should study to pass this
course.” “Anyone in the proper senses wouldn’t do such a
hideous thing.” “Someone is going to suffer for this [or that]
act of irresponsibility.”
When the “zero pronoun” isn’t possible,
however, I always fall back on the simplest option: pluralizing the
third-person indefinite pronoun: “All should study if they want to
pass this course.” “All those in their proper senses wouldn’t
do such a hideous thing.” “All are going to suffer for their
irresponsibility.”
My new book, The 10 Most Annoying English
Grammar Errors, takes up pronoun usage much more extensively. It can
be browsed at www.manilatimes.net/josecarillobooks and is now
available in major bookstores.
j8carillo@yahoo.com
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