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Someone has left____ wet towels on the bathroom floor. his or her or their

Ulises
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1 Answers1

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The correct possessive pronoun would need to be a singular (such as his or her) because someONE refers to one individual.

The incorrect usage of plural pronouns in situations where singular pronouns are more appropriate is one which has manifested in the English language. Other common mistakes involving singular vs. plural situations include:

"None of you are prepared." - The sentence should read "None of you is prepared." because "none" is a substitution for "not one," a singular

For help with this in speech and writing, replace the pronoun in question with a name or another common singular pronoun. Then, determine which subject/verb agreement is the best.

Thomas Marszewski
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  • So we should say things like "After the professor finished his lecture, everyone stood up from his seat?" – herisson Jun 04 '15 at 20:03
  • Yes, but only if everyone standing up from his seat is a male. If females in the room also stood from seats, the sentence should read "..., everyone stood up from his or her seat." It sounds so improper because we are so acclimated to the improper usage. For a better-sounding sentence, just say "the listeners stood up from their seats." Listeners is a plural noun, so that usage of "their" is proper. – Thomas Marszewski Jun 04 '15 at 20:08
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    Nonsense. Someone has left their wet towels is both grammatical and meaningful. Someone has VP, where VP is some forbidden behavior, is a common construction used by those in authority (typically parents) to announce that some ostensibly unknown person or persons had better repair the damage very soon or much bigger trouble will ensue. Could be one, could be several, doesn't matter -- the indefiniteness is what's important in context. – John Lawler Jun 04 '15 at 20:12
  • @ThomasMarszewski Have you never heard of the singular they? It has been discussed on many occasions past on this site. You will easily find reference to it. – WS2 Jun 04 '15 at 20:13
  • The singular they is a proposal to include gender-neutral pronouns into the English language. It also serves other purposes, such as catering to the devolution of the English language that I mentioned earlier. However, in the specific cases of the question and my examples, the singular usages are most appropriate because each example pronoun included the word "one" (ie. everyone, none.) The same singular usage applies to (any, each and anyone) to name a few. I do not disagree with the singular they, but these examples were best-suited for singular usage in traditional English. – Thomas Marszewski Jun 04 '15 at 20:18
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    Declaring "everyone" to being singular based on the word "one" being included is a false simplification. "Everyone stood up from their seats" is perfectly correct. – Hack Saw Jun 04 '15 at 20:19
  • Singular they is no proposal, and it is part of the writings of people like Chaucer, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Thackeray, and Shaw. I seriously doubt that excluding those authors from "traditional English" is a good idea. – oerkelens Jun 04 '15 at 20:56