Choose the sentence with the proper pronoun usage.

Question

A. The doctors volunteered their time in a third-world country.

 

B. Someone left their purse in the restroom.

 

C. Anyone that thinks they don't need writing skills in life is crazy.

 

D. Heroes give his or her time freely to help others.

Answer 1

The correct answer is A. While they is most commonly used when referring in pronoun form to a person of unknown gender, in proper form the pronoun [he] or [he or she] should in fact be used in many cases. When using the indefinite pronouns each, either, neither, anybody, anyone, anything, everybody, everyone, everything, nobody, no one, nothing, somebody, someone, something should always be treated as if they are a singular subject. The past rule was for the pronouns [he] or [his] to always be the proper pronoun for these cases, but scholarship in the subject in recent years has been moving towards [he or she] as the proper identifier. Ask your teacher or professor which they would prefer. When dealing with indefinite pronouns all, any, none, more, most, and some, they can be either singular or plural depending on the prepositional phrase that follows the pronoun ([all of this stuff] is singular [all of these things] is plural). If you cannot memorize the two lists of pronouns before your exam, based on probability it is usually safer to assumer an indefinite pronoun is singular. It is recommended to at least memorize the exceptions and remember the prepositional phrase rule. Answer C is incorrect for this reason, as while we may use they in this way typically (myself included), the correct form would be [he] or [he or she]. Answer B is incorrect as the indefinite pronoun someone is singular not plural. And while the identity of the individual is unknown, her gender is identifiable as female from the context clues (a purse, and being found in a restroom a location usually segregated by gender) and the pronoun her should most likely be used rather than [him or her]. Even without knowing the  Plural pronounces should always be used for plural subjects EXCEPT for when they are preceded by the words Each, Every or everyone (i.e. Everyone at the men's grammar retreat realized he must modify his own choice of pronouns.) Answer D is incorrect as heroes implies multiple individuals, and his or her is only proper if the word heroes was preceded by the Each or Every modifiers. Thus A is correct as the doctors is a plural subject not preceded by an individualizing modifier (each or every), meaning their is the proper pronoun choice for the sentence.