The boys all went their separate ways.

I must have many and many a time. The plural noun subject dominates.

Thanks, MrM.

Why not avoid trouble and say

1. The boys all went their separate ways.

MrP

I usually do, but Trouble is my middle name.

Thanks, MrP.

AvangiThe boys each went their separate ways.

The boys each went their separate way.

(I take their as singular after each, so that part doesn't bother me.)

Each went one way. Each didn't go several ways.

Better: Each boy went his separate way.

CJ

Thanks, Jim. I can't understand why the quoted utterance doesn't bother me more. I suppose it's not idiomatic.

If we assumed that all the boys were entitled to a "his", and that we could therefore discard the unsexed "their", we could presumably then say:

1. The boys each went his separate way.

But that sounds even odder; which suggests that the "their" is indeed a genuine plural form.

MrP

MrPedanticBut that sounds even odder; which suggests that the "their" is indeed a genuine plural form.

Well, you got me there.

MrPedantic the unsexed "their"

I think the collocation is "unsex me here," not "their."