Either Tom or Jane did his/her/their homework

Hi,

Either Tom or Jane did his/her/their homework last night.

The given answer to the above is "her," but I think "their" fits better. Yes, I agree.

The alternative would be the rather clumsy

Either Tom or Jane did his or her homework last night.



Clive

"Their" is increasingly being used as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. That's probably the way I would say it, assuming you mean "Either Tom did his homework or Jane did her homework.". On a test, though, I'd say "his or her" would be the safe choice. There is no more reason to select "her" than "his" -- unless you mean that either Tom or Jane did Jane's homework, in which case "her"

I see so many of these questions posted by learners. In fact, no native would ever say these absurd sentences. They live only in the world of the minds of the exam-makers.

Grammar GeekThey live only in the world of the minds of the exam-makers.

Exactly. The skill of memorizing and applying arbitrary rules about subject-verb agreement is very easy to measure on a test.

Why should exam-makers have to work hard?

There is either an apple pie or 12 cookies in my oven. I mean, come on! Like I wouldn't know? Like you couldn't tell from the smell whether it was a pie or cookies? This stuff is nuts.

Grammar Geekcookies

Now you've got my attention!

CM

CJ, if you PM me your mailing address and your favorite type, I'll have a dozen to you for Boxing Day. "If it fits, it ships" is doing great business with me this year!