Why 'their'?

[bieasy]

Hi,

In the following passage:

'No veteran who has served and risked their life ... should have to worry about their personal safety.....'

'Veteran' is singular, so why does the author use 'their' instead of 'his'?

Read more: Tuesday, Jul. 13, 2010 - Quotes of the Day - TIME.com
​

 

[IHIVG]

Hi,

In the following passage:

'No veteran who has served and risked their life ... should have to worry about their personal safety.....'

'Veteran' is singular, so why does the author use 'their' instead of 'his'?

Read more: Tuesday, Jul. 13, 2010 - Quotes of the Day - TIME.com
​

Hi bieasy,
It's common to use 'their' with singular in English to allow for both genders.

Singular they - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[TheParser]

Hi,

In the following passage:

'No veteran who has served and risked their life ... should have to worry about their personal safety.....'

'Veteran' is singular, so why does the author use 'their' instead of 'his'?

Read more: Tuesday, Jul. 13, 2010 - Quotes of the Day - TIME.com​

********** NOT A TEACHER **********

Hello, Bieasy.

(1) When I was younger, English speakers would use his in your

sentence because for a long time his referred to both genders.

(2) Then in the 1960's, many groups in the United States expressed

dissatisfaction with their treatment.

(a) Many women resented the pronouns he, his, him being used to

refer to women.

(i) As a result, many people now have decided to use their as a pronoun

to please both genders.

(a) If you are not comfortable with their (I personally am not), you

may use:

his or her

she or he (instead of they)

s/he

Whenever possible, some people write a sentence so that it is not

necessary to use a personal pronoun or they make the noun plural

in order to match their.

Thank you

 

[bieasy]

********** NOT A TEACHER **********

Hello, Bieasy.

(1) When I was younger, English speakers would use his in your

sentence because for a long time his referred to both genders.

(2) Then in the 1960's, many groups in the United States expressed

dissatisfaction with their treatment.

(a) Many women resented the pronouns he, his, him being used to

refer to women.

(i) As a result, many people now have decided to use their as a pronoun

to please both genders.

(a) If you are not comfortable with their (I personally am not), you

may use:

his or her

she or he (instead of they)

s/he

Whenever possible, some people write a sentence so that it is not

necessary to use a personal pronoun or they make the noun plural

in order to match their.

Thank you

Thank you Theparter! :up:

 

[Tdol]

The use of their is very widespread in British English and I use it and the only people who have complained about our using it on the site have been AmE speakers. I think that BrE is generally more relaxed about singular and plural issues. ;-)

 

[MASM]

Yes, I have studied that plural "they or their" is used in singular in order to avoid gender distinction like in "Someone's forgotten their bag"