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13-Sep-2007, 07:12
|  | Member | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Country: Algeria
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| | grammer question Dear teachers,
I found this sentence in a course:
"Someone in their retirement is called a senior citizen."
so I wondred why they used their and not his?,  because as we know someone is an indefinite pronoun and we use it with a singular verb, ex:someone wants to talk with you.
I'll be very thankful if someone helps me to solve this problem.
Thank you very much.  . | 
13-Sep-2007, 08:25
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| | Re: grammer question Quote:
Originally Posted by sara88 Dear teachers,
I found this sentence in a course:
"Someone in their retirement is called a senior citizen."
so I wondred why they used their and not his?,  because as we know someone is an indefinite pronoun and we use it with a singular verb, ex:someone wants to talk with you.
I'll be very thankful if someone helps me to solve this problem.
Thank you very much.  . | In English, someone/somebody as the subject of a sentence takes a singular verb (you pointed it out in your post already): Someone/Somebody wants to talk to you.
Now, if you'd like to refer to someone/somebody, then you normally use the subject form they, the object form them, or the possessive determiner their: A: Mrs Patterson, someone wants to talk to you.
B: Did they not tell you what they want to talk about?
A: No.
B: Alright then. Bring them in. We don't want to waste their time, do you?  | 
13-Sep-2007, 09:12
| | Junior Member | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Country: India
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| | Re: grammer question Quote:
Originally Posted by sara88 Dear teachers,
I found this sentence in a course:
"Someone in their retirement is called a senior citizen."
so I wondred why they used their and not his?,  because as we know someone is an indefinite pronoun and we use it with a singular verb, ex:someone wants to talk with you.
I'll be very thankful if someone helps me to solve this problem.
Thank you very much.  . | I would have used the following sentences, I am open to corection though
1. Someone in his/her retirement is called a senior citizen.
2. People in their retirement are called senior citizens. | 
13-Sep-2007, 10:16
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| | Re: grammer question Singular "their" is an old usage and is commonly accepted as a neutral pronoun.
For anyone interested in this ongoing argument, this is a good outline of its history: Singular "their" in Jane Austen and elsewhere: Anti-pedantry page | 
13-Sep-2007, 11:13
|  | Senior Member | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Country: Poland
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| | Re: grammer question Quote:
Originally Posted by Anglika | I got really impressed after reading the article.  A very interesting one.
Thanks, Anglika.  | 
13-Sep-2007, 16:00
|  | Member | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Country: Algeria
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| | Re: grammer question Thank you very much for your responses...but I still have some doubts about the use of singular their..
anyway, I think we don't need to use it a lot, so we can keep using clear sentences...
Thank you again. | 
13-Sep-2007, 17:15
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| | Re: grammer question Quote:
Originally Posted by arunp I would have used the following sentences, I am open to corection though
1. Someone in his/her retirement is called a senior citizen.
2. People in their retirement are called senior citizens. | Me too! Especially, it's about taking a test/an exam in school/college or at university. Same applies to formal writing such as application letters, government correspondence and compositions/essays, etc. In day-to-day conversations, one can use the "they" form for the third person whose gender is unknown to the speaker. | | Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes | Linear Mode |
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