Singularthey , or the exercise of the pronountheyto refer to one person , has been around for centuries . Both Chaucer and Shakespeare used it . It ’s in the King James Bible . But since the early solar day of English grammar textbooks in the 19thcentury , it has been considered a mistake . For over 100 years , students have been urge on to re - write sentences like “ Everyone has their own ideas ” with a queer pronoun : “ Everyone has his own ideas . ”
The problem with that fix is that it require a decision on sex . What if you do n’t have a specific somebody in head ? What if you do n’t know the gender of the person you ’re talk about ? What if the person does n’t favor a specific gender ? The result to that trouble was for a retentive time the clunky “ Everyone has his or her own ideas , ” or changing the subject to a plural , as in “ People have their own idea . ” In unconstipated speech and informal writing , the singulartheyrolled on , becoming common enough that even the sharp - eyed editor in chief sometimes go wrong to get it before mark .
In 2015,The Washington Postbecame the first major publication todrop the proscription on singulartheyfrom its official fashion templet . Now theAssociated Press has done the same , albeit “ in limited cases … when alternative wording is overly awkward or clumsy . ”
While the " Everyone has their own ideas " sort of singulartheyis commonly used for reference book to a non - specific person of unknown gender , the AP guidebook also deals with the use of goods and services oftheyas a pronoun for a specific person who select not to identify as male or female . In that case , the way is to “ apply the individual ’s name in place of a pronoun , or otherwise reword the sentence , whenever potential . Ifthey / them / theiruse is indispensable , explain in the text that the person prefers a sex - neutral pronoun . ”
As always , “ pellucidity is a top priority . ” That ’s the most important pattern for any good style guide and for any good writing . A change to a expressive style scout is n’t a change to the terminology , but a relaxing of a restriction in home that made clarity a little intemperately to accomplish .
