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NUMBER AND GENDER

Identifying who’s who
It is unclear
If there is more than one person or thing whether it was
in a sentence, it must be clear which Emily’s first climb
pronoun refers to which person or thing. or Anna’s.
If it is not clear, the sentence needs to be This sentence has
been reordered so
reworded. Alternatively, the name of the that the pronoun is
relevant person can be repeated to make next to the subject
it clear who is doing what. it relates to—it was
Emily wanted Anna to come, Emily’s first climb,
In this case it was Anna’s first climb, not Emily’s, so although it was Anna’s first climb. not Anna’s.
the name Anna has been repeated to make this clear.

Misusing their The indefinite pronoun
everyone is singular, so the
The plural form they doesn’t have a determiners his and her are
gender, and people often use this form used to refer to a group made
when speaking or writing to avoid having up of males and females.
to distinguish between males and
females. In many cases, this results in
a singular noun or pronoun being paired The sentence has been
reworded to include a plural
with a plural determiner. The only way
subject (students), so the
to avoid this problem is to use his or her plural determiner their can
instead of their for the singular, or to be used. The object (ropes)
make the noun plural and use their. has been made plural as well.

Male or female?
Sometimes it’s hard to know
This sentence refers to a specific
whether to use he, she, or
instructor, who is known to be
they when referring to both male, so the determiner his
men and women. Historically, is correct.
writers used the masculine
pronouns and determiners
he, his, him, and himself to This sentence refers to an
represent both sexes, but this unknown instructor, who could be
male or female, so the determiners
approach is now considered
his and her are required.
outdated. Assumptions about
male and female roles should Sometimes it’s clearer to
also be avoided. use both the noun and the
determiner in the plural form.