Normally, pronouns such as everybody, everyone, anyone and each are considered singular. As a result, singular verbs are used with them.
Similarly, his and her are pronouns defined by gender. While both refer to singular humans, ‘his’ points to the male while ‘her’ is female. Even as the world continues to experience novel man-made transformations including trans-gendering, both pronouns, depicting possession, are still defined by gender.
Here are some examples in this regard:
Everyone has a copy of the book which he or she should bring to class.
Each of the landlords regularly visits the chairman with his or her dues.
None of the boys brought his or her pens.
However, occasions do arise when plural verbs are used with them. A pragmatic approach to handling gender issues and making clauses more compact, the enhanced rule here indicates that instead of using his or her, for instance, one can opt for ‘their’. Haven’t you been coming across statements like the following?
Each of the landlords regularly visits the chairman with THEIR dues.
Neither Donald nor Grace submitted THEIR papers. So, they will be punished.
Everyone has a copy of the book which THEY should bring to class.
I put the affected words in capital letters to underscore the transformation. What this means is that whenever we come across such in writings or speeches, we should understand the principle involved, while we too are free to use it. Well, the old form ‘his or her’, is also still very correct. So, the choice is yours.
In other words, the examples above can still be:
Each of the landlords and landladies regularly visits the chairman with his or her dues.
Neither Donald nor Grace submitted his or her papers. So, they will be punished.
Everyone has a copy of the book which he or she should bring to class.
