Everybody knows when HE/SHE is right or when THEY are right?

You really must have found yourself in a situation where you are confused on what possessive adjective, objective case pronoun or subjective anaphoric pronoun to use with indefinite pronouns such as ‘everybody’, ‘anybody’, etc.  In such situations you often have to choose from the following sets: their, his/her and his; them, him/her and him; and they, he/she and he. For example, do you say: ‘Everybody knows when they are right.’ or ‘Everybody knows when he or she is right.’ or ‘Everybody knows when he is right.’?  Let us take a look at the following.

Indefinite Pronouns, Subjective Anaphoric Pronouns, Objective Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

Indefinite Pronouns are pronouns that are used instead of a noun whose definiteness cannot be established. This means that indefinite pronouns do not refer to anybody or anything in particular. Examples include: anyone, no one, everyone, everybody, nobody, anybody, etc.

Subjective Anaphoric Pronouns are pronouns which are used to refer back to a subject. They are often in subjective case. In ‘The man said that he didn’t understand the lecture’, he is a subjective anaphoric pronoun; it refers back to the subject ‘the man’.

Objective Pronouns are pronouns used instead of nouns which receive action from the process denoted by a verb. Examples include: him, her, it, them, me, us, and you. Him in ‘I know him.’ is an objective pronoun.

Possessive Adjectives are pronouns which are used as adjective. These are: my, our, your, his, her, its and their. In ‘These are my shoes’, my qualifies ‘shoes’ just as ‘new’, an adjective, qualifies ‘shoes’ in the sentence ‘These are new shoes’.

Using Indefinite Pronouns with Subjective Anaphoric Pronouns, Objective Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

Using an indefinite pronoun with any of the three grammatical elements above can best be described along three categories: formal use, informal use and gender bias.

Formal Use

In formal settings, one is expected to make use of he/she, his/her and him/her with indefinite pronouns. Examples:

i.                    Everyone should know when he/she is expected to talk.

ii.                  Everybody knows when he/she is in love.

iii.                Anybody can say what is on his/her own mind. It’s a free world.

iv.                Anyone can just grab his/her gun and shoot you.

v.                  Anybody can climb the fence for him/her to see what is going on.

vi.                Anybody can be appointed provided we can identify him/her.

Informal Use

In informal settings, they, them and their are used with indefinite pronouns. This means when you are with your friends or colleagues you can make use of the following:

i.                    Everyone should know when they are expected to talk.

ii.                  Everybody knows when they are in love.

iii.                Anybody can say what is on their own mind. It’s a free world.

iv.                Anyone can just grab their gun and shoot you.

v.                  Anybody can climb the fence for them to see what is going on.

vi.                Anybody can be appointed provided we can identify them.

Gender Bias: Unacceptable Use

Over the years, the English language has gone through several feministic reviews which have in some ways rendered some erstwhile acceptable uses essentially unacceptable. There are some structures in grammar which assume that the world is composed of only male human beings; these structures are now considered unacceptable. For example, it is now considered unacceptable to say ‘Nobody can say he knows what will happen tomorrow’. Therefore, the following sentences are unacceptable:

i.                    Everyone should know when he is expected to talk.

ii.                  Everybody knows when he is in love.

iii.                Anybody can say what is on his own mind. It’s a free world.

iv.                Anyone can just grab his gun and shoot you.

v.                  Anybody can climb the fence for him to see what is going on.

vi.                Anybody can be appointed provided we can identify him.