they

he

he

he or she

they

they

they,

their,

them

they

their

them

The Comedy of Errors

(There's not a man I meet but doth salute me/As if I were their well-acquainted friend)

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

(If everybody minded their own business … the world would go round a deal faster than it does).

they

My teacher had their car stolen.

they

they,

they,

their,

them

he

she.

they

he

she,

ze,

they:

When Tyler was applying to college, they indicated their intended major on the application.

they

they

they

they

The student brought in a note to show why they were absent.

Traditional grammars have limited the use ofto refer only to a plural antecedent. These grammars recommended using the singular masculineas if it were generic, referring to a man, woman, or humanity universally. Later, when genericwas criticized as sexist, the long and awkwardbegan to be used in its place. But in spite of prescriptive rules that would prohibit it, the pronounis also used to refer to a single person in three distinct ways, and each of these three uses grew out of a particular historical or social context.Shakespeare, Swift, Shelley, Scott, and Dickens, as well as many other English and American writers, usedto refer to a generic, unspecified individual, or to a person whose gender and other personal details were unknown or irrelevant. So this use ofandis not a recent development, nor is it a mark of ignorance. Generic and singular indefiniteand related case formsandare found in respected works, from Shakespeare’sto Lewis Carroll’sSingularis also used as a pronoun for a known, specified person, particularly when the individual is named with a job title or other noun phrase, instead of a proper name:This specific singularlooks similar to the generic singularbut is somewhat less acceptable in conservatively edited English.Nonbinary singular use ofandhas become widely accepted in the 21st century. The third person singular pronouns in English are traditionally binary, with the masculineand the femininePeople, including many who are nonbinary and gender-nonconforming, have simply chosen between these two words. Likewise, people apply these pronouns to others based on gender expression cues observed in their appearance. By the mid-2010s, some style guides began recommending the use of singularas one way to refer to an individual without assigning gender to that person. At the same time, it has become much more common for people to announce their pronoun or ask what pronoun a person uses. It may be that a person has chosen a traditional binary pronoun likeoran alternative gender-neutral or nonbinary pronoun such asor the singular use of the existing pronounIn spite of the older grammar rules that prohibited the use of singularin reference to a specified, known, or named person, use ofwhen the antecedent is a gender-nonconforming individual or one who does not identify as male or female is now accepted as an option.And althoughmay be used as a singular pronoun,still takes a plural verb, analogous to the use of "you are" to refer to one person:See also he1