[영어Q&A] everyone has his/their

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Everyone has his/their

Discussion in 'English Only' started by shaula, May 12, 2005.

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1. 

   shaulaSenior Member

   Como, Italy

   Italy - Italian

   In a post I had written something like "everyone has their dream", as I was taught in school, but then the same sentence was written by an American "everyone has his dream".
   Which is correct?
   
   Ciao
   shaula

답변

2. "Everyone" is considered singular. 
   However, when we don't know if the subject is male or female we can use "they" (and therefore "their").
   
   So, your first sentence ("Everyone has their dream") is correct.
   
   I would also say that "Everyone has his/her dream" is correct.
   
   To say "Everyone has his dream" is also correct, though slightly politically incorrect these days.
   
   (In my opinion)

   irishstu, May 12, 2005

   #2

3. TabacSenior Member

   Pacific Northwest (USA)

   U. S. - English

   shaula said:

   In a post I had written something like "everyone has their dream", as I was taught in school, but then the same sentence was written by an American "everyone has his dream".
   Which is correct?
   
   Ciao
   shaula

   I cannot stand to hear "his/her", a result of Women's Lib. I still contend that, although we use it, "their" in this case is not the best, as there is a great argument for the lack of agreement of number. Therefor, I always try to avoid the mess, especially in formal writing, by changing the structure to something like: "We all have our dream(s)".

1. enzodava, May 13, 2005

   #6

2. EricBMember

   Los Angeles

   US English

   For what it's worth, there's at least one American here who's fine with "Everyone has their dream." If it was good enough for Bill Shakespeare, it's good enough for me. Zounds!
   
   Of course, if the construction were "every one of us has ...," I would expect to then hear "his" or "her" and not "their."

2. maxiogee, May 28, 2006

   #14

3. mjscottSenior Member

   Pacific Northwest, USA

   English

   Although sexism does exist in the world, I believe it is out of convenience, and not sexism that the default pronoun gender is masculine when you don't know whether the acting party is a him or a her. It's acceptable, except for those who believe that it is out of sexism (that the default gender is masculine)! As stated above and shown in other posts, if you do not take the default gender you are left with creating all sorts of machinations in writing to satisfy all parties.

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http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/everyone-has-his-their.29044/