Am I using "their" correctly?

Hi anon,

I prefer b, though I hear a in conversations.

Hope that helps.

a) Every mother thinks their baby is the cutest.

The above sentence cannot be correct because of the verb "thinks" which is used with "third person singular"only.

If you delete the "s", the sentence will become,

"Every mother think their baby is the cutest." which sounds weird an

I disagree.......

Mother is third person singular. Plural of mother is mothers. You are assuming that 'every' makes the sentence plural. Think of the phrase as having a missing that

i.e.

"Every mother thinks (that) their baby is the cutest."

I agree with Julie, however as a native English speaker I would always choose

You are overlooking something......

Mother is third person singular. Plural of mother is mothers. You are assuming that 'every' makes the sentence plural. Think of the phrase as having a missing that

...it's "their" which makes "mother" plural.

"Every mother thinks (that) their baby i

Dear Anonymous,

It is true that native speakers use «their» to mean «his or her».

Here «his or her» is unnecessary. A mother is always female. Therefore «her» is correct.

Kind regards,

Hello Goldmund

True enough. But the force of habit may be such that native speakers continue to use 'their' even when it's not strictly necessary.

P.

....when it's not strictly necessary.

Should be, ".......when it's strictly UNnecessary."

Thank you for your input, Dehbaash.

That said, "not strictly necessary" is a commonly used expression. I hear that al

RwilesI agree with Julie, however as a native English speaker I would always choose a over b

Weird. As a native English speaker I would choose b over a. But I did attend a Grammar school!

Maybe the fact that homosexual couples have now the right to adopt children - and to me it's a good thing - accounts for the use of "their"?