What is the correct use of pronoun with each/every/each of
-
Each of the boys has/have brought his/their pen.
-
Each boy has/have brought his/their pen.
Please explain which is correct pronoun here, his or their
pronounssingular-vs-plural
What is the correct use of pronoun with each/every/each of
Each of the boys has/have brought his/their pen.
Each boy has/have brought his/their pen.
Please explain which is correct pronoun here, his or their
Best Answer
I would say in this particular example where we're talking about
boys
, in both cases,However, today, in situations where (1) gender is unknown, (2) the group comprise both genders, or (3) there are gender-fluid individuals in the group, it has become more normal to adopt the gender-neutral
their
(and correspondinglyhave
) instead ofhis
.Assuming the male gender as representative of everyone can at best be deemed an outdated notion from a bygone era, and at worst insensitive and offensive. Of course, we could say
his or her
but that sounds a little clumsy compared totheir
.That said, in the original example, if it's fairly certain that the 'boys' do not have anyone who is gender-fluid in the group, we really should stick to
has/his
.