0
Diego Simão Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

His or their?

0I am confused about these:02br
02br
00Each of the students is doing 01i00_____02i00 homework.02br
02br
00Every students is doing 01i00______02i00 homework.02br
02br
00A. his B. Their02br
02br
00For each sentence, which one should I choose to fill in the blank?02br
02br
00Thanks!0-
  

Top answer

02br 00 Every STUDENT (then same as in the above) 0-

— Marius Hancu

  • 02br 00 Every STUDENT (then same as in the above) 0-
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11 Answers
0
0 Each of the students is doing 01b00his or her02b00 homework.02br
00or 02br
00 Each of the students is doing 01b00their02b00 homework.02br
00 Every STUDENT (then same as in the above) 0-
0
0
0Sorry, I don't agree with you.0-
0
0
1b00I presume the 'his' or 'their' can be used only once. 02b02br
02br
00Each of the students is doing his homework. (Strictly speaking, it should be 'his' or 'her')02br
02br
00Every 01b00student 02b00is doing their homework. (Strictly speaking, it should be 'his' or 'her'.)0-
0
0
1h2

05002h2

00 01table01tr01td
02br
00Don’t agree to having the TV or music playing while your child 01b00is doing his or02b00 01b00her homework02b00. It’s nothing but distracting and teaches a habit that will be 01b00...02b02br
0
0
1b00I presume we should use either 'his' or 'their' to fill in each blank. We cannot use either word twice. 02b02br
02br
00Each of the students is doing his homework. (Strictly speaking, it should be 'his' or 'her')02br
02br
00Every 01b00student 02b00is doing their homework. (Strictly speaking, it should be 'his' or 'h
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Yoong Liat12cite11b10I presume the 'his' or 'their' can be used only once. 12b12br
12br
10Each of the students is doing his homework. (Strictly speaking, it should be 'his' or 'her')12br
12blockquote
10 Wrong and not politically correct today. 02br
00You c
0
0
0"Their" has become extremely common as a substitute for "his or her" - it's now considered fine to use it with a singular antecendent in all but the most formal circumstances. However, it's possible that an English teacher would consider the classroom to be a formal circumstance.02br
02br
00The second sentence is simply incorrect, not matter what you do to it. 01i00
0
0
1blockquote
01cite10Marius Hancu12cite11blockquote
11cite20Yoong Liat22cite22br
21b20I presume the 'his' or 'their' can be used only once. 22b22br
22br
20Each of the students is doing his homework. (Strictly speaking, it should be 'his' or 'her')22br
22br
2
0
0
0Not quite. 02br
02br
00BOTH of "his and her" and "their" are recognized as "gendral neutral" on both sides of the Pond. 02br
00It is "one's" which is recognized mostly only in the BrE. 02br
00From the BBC:02br
02br
01h2

05002h2

00 01table01tr01td
0

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