(07-17-2020 03:06 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(07-17-2020 02:06 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

Quote:I may actually have a bigger problem with the use of a plural pronoun “their” to refer to the singular “a person.”

Calling on George for that one. I never knew that "their" was not able to be used as a singular possessive word. What would be the alternative to indicate the possessive nature of "house" for a non-gendered noun (a person)?

"Their" is clearly a plural possessive pronoun. My unhappiness is at the fact that political correctness has led us to use plural pronouns rather than the singular, in order to avoid some kind of gender something.

The appropriate usage would be "his" or "her" or "his/her" (possessive of "he/she"), even if that is a bit awkward.

For a non-gendered noun, the possessive would be "its." But you weren't talking about the house when you used it, you were talking about the deceased. Either that, or there's a much bigger problem here than I thought.

If I want to talk about a generic person, with no gender attached, "they" or "their' is definitely a common, and grammatically acceptable approach.

Would you actually say "Someone left its backpack in the classroom." No, you would say "Someone left their backpack in the classroom" or "Someone left his or her backpack in the classroom," but never "Someone left its backpack in the classroom." I feel like we have traditionally reserved the pronoun "it" to refer to non-human nouns.

My hypothetical was asking about a generic deceased individual, not specifically Breonna Taylor (hence the term "person").