The Singular "They"

Monday, September 25, 2006

You often have yet another option for eliminating he, him, and his: replace them with they, them, or their.But, you say, that's a grammatical error: they and its derivatives are plural!Not always. Notice that in everyday speech we often use they and its derivatives in the singular. English-speaking people have been doing this since the thirteenth century when he came to mean "male." Writers since

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Eliminating the Possessive Pronoun "His"

Friday, September 8, 2006

Often, eliminating his is harder than eliminating he or him, especially if you have a he, him, and his in the same sentence. Yet, you have six ways to eliminate his.To avoid using "his":Cut the word his.Use an article (a, an, or the) instead. Switch to the plural.Switch to the second person (using you).Write in the passive voice.Substitute "his or her" for "his."Follow examples. In the first two,

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