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I read a sentence stated as:

"The voluntary organisation come forward to help the victims and said that each may contribute what he can."

In that sentence I'm confused which one is correct , each may contribute what he can or each may contribute what they can?

Tushar Raj
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user284968
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1 Answers1

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There are two issues here.

One is the matter of singular or plural: "each" is singular. So your sentence should be about what an individual contributes, rather than what the contributors do collectively. Fortunately, your chosen verb "may" is the same in singular and plural, so this issue doesn't affect that verb.

Another issue is which pronoun to use to refer to an individual contributor. If you know that all contributors are male, then "he" is fine. However, "he" has the problem that it gives the impression of excluding the female contributors. The solution is to use "they".

So I'd go with "each may contribute what they can". Not because "each" is plural -- it isn't -- but because "they" is inclusive.

Rosie F
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  • The tag "verb agreement" suggests the question is about the singular each vs. the plural they. The OP does not seem to mean the "singular they". – Kris Mar 05 '18 at 08:41
  • @Kris Fair comment. But if I'd advocated "...they can" without addressing the singular-they issue, that might give the impression that the rule is to use plural agreement. Later readers might use this Q&A to help them with sentences where singular-they is not involved but singular-vs-plural is. – Rosie F Mar 05 '18 at 08:47
  • @Kris: I was the one who edited the tags. And whether the tag is there or not, the singular they discussion is inevitable in questions like these. There's a fair chance that the OP wasn't too familiar with the singular they usage. Anyway, if there's a more appropriate tag, feel free to replace mine. – Tushar Raj Mar 05 '18 at 12:28
  • @TusharRaj Also, Rosie F: Fine, too. My point was only that the Q. is essentially about grammatical number and verb agreement. – Kris Mar 05 '18 at 14:43