pronoun

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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hanuman_2000
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pronoun

Post by hanuman_2000 »

sir,

Every one should read their book.

Every one should read his or her book.

The First doubt ,shall I write "Every one" or "Everyone",because some where it is written like "Every one" and some where "Everyone".

The Second doubt about "their" and "his or her".
It is written that we can use "their" in Informal but "he or she" in Formal English.

My question is, shall I always use Formal, as I am a student.
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Alan
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Post by Alan »

1. Either 'everyone' or 'every one' would make for a grammatical sentence, but only 'everyone' means specifically 'everybody/all the people'. 'Every one', on the other hand, could refer to 'every dog', 'every table', etc.!

2. Yes, purists will still insist on 'his/her' as the correct form, though 'their' as a generic possessive is widely tolerated in current usage.
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