grammer question

[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. .

[engee30]

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?

[arunp]

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.

[Anglika]

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

[engee30]

Originally Posted by Anglika

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

I got really impressed after reading the article. A very interesting one.
Thanks, Anglika.

[sara88]

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.

[Sonnyday]

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.