##  [pronoun agreement: gender](/writing-tips-plus/pronoun-agreement-gender)

##  Avertissement

Ce contenu est offert en anglais seulement.

Personal pronouns must agree in gender with the nouns they refer to (called their “antecedents”). In English, there are three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine and neuter.

Agreement in gender is not an issue with third person **plural** pronouns, since the plural pronoun “they” and its forms (“them,” “their”) are gender-inclusive; they automatically agree with antecedents of any gender.

But the traditional **singular** pronouns “he,” “she” and “it” are gender-specific, so in using these pronouns or any of their forms, we must be careful to choose the pronoun that matches the gender of its antecedent:

- **Ivor** dragged **himself** over the rocks, scraping **his** knees. \[masculine\]
- I saw **Nicole**. **She** was taking **her** dog for a walk. \[feminine\]
- The **dog** pricked up **its** ears when **it** heard the voices. \[neuter\]

Because these traditional singular pronouns are gender-specific, many non-binary and gender diverse persons use a gender-inclusive pronoun instead, such as singular “they” or one of the neopronouns:

- **Alexa** submitted **their** manuscript to a publisher, and **they** received a letter of acceptance.
- **Brooke** invited me over to **zir** new apartment; **ze** just moved in last week.

### Agreement with gender-inclusive words

Indefinite pronouns (“everyone,” “anyone,” etc.) and many nouns (“member,” “student,” “performer,” “child,” “person,” etc.) are gender-inclusive: they can refer to any individual, regardless of gender.

When you are using a pronoun to refer to one of these singular gender-inclusive words, a problem arises, because English has no third person singular pronoun that is gender-inclusive:

- No **witness** could recall everything **he** had seen.
- **Everyone** has submitted **her** forms.

In these examples, the use of the gender-specific pronouns “he” and “her” excludes other genders. There are several techniques for replacing a gendered pronoun in sentences like those above. Three of the most popular ones are shown below.

**Solution 1:** Make your antecedent plural, and use “they”

- No **witnesses** could recall everything **they** had seen.
- All the **members** have submitted **their** forms.

**Solution 2:** Leave the antecedent singular, and use singular “they”:

- No **witness** could recall everything **they** had seen.
- **Everyone** has submitted **their** form.

**Solution 3:** Reword the sentence to get rid of the pronoun

- No witness could recall the incident completely.
- Everyone has submitted the necessary forms.

**Note:** In speech and informal writing, the plural pronoun “they” and its forms are often used with a singular antecedent, as shown above in Solution 2. At one time, this practice was discouraged in formal writing, but it has now been endorsed by publishers of major style guides (for example, the Modern Languages Association and the American Psychological Association).

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