Tripping over my grammar

My dad used to say I had an excuse for everything. I don’t think he meant it in a nice way.

I was recently visiting a writer’s forum, where I was seeking help on an article I was working on. One of the forum members gave me some advise which I hadn’t solicited. She corrected my grammar.

The really irritating part, I felt she was right. She told me: If you're going to start with a singular noun, keep it singular.

Yes, yes. I knew that. Honest. But I have a real good reason. (Which only goes to support Dad’s belief.)

At one time you could simply write “If a school teacher wants his students to behave..” And then with the Women’s Movement (which had my total support), we became aware that the “his” could also be a “her”.

But, writing “If a school teacher wants his or her students to behave” made me feel as if I was being over sensitive. It seemed easier to simply write “If a school teacher wants their students to behave…”

Which brings me to this recent chastising. Initially I believed she was right (and she probably is). After all, I have been known to screw up in this area.

I hate doubting myself, after all I am a college graduate, and I took about every writing course available at the four year university. In spite of the fact I received A’s for all of those classes, I know I am not a grammar wiz. I frequently stumble.

But, I hate doubting myself. I should know and understand all the rules. Yet, I don’t. I decided to revisit the rules in my trusty set of “Practical English”, that has been in my library for over thirty years. I looked up the section on pronouns, only to discover it clearly stated: “In cases where it is not clear whether the antecedent is masculine or feminine, use the pronoun his.” Obviously the book is outdated.

I understand language changes over time, but doesn't grammar? When exploring this question online I found support for my usage of “their” on Wikipedia. But Wikipedia is Wikipedia, no insult intended.

Heck, I should be thrilled I know the difference between their, there, and they’re.

Anyway….after surfing around I found another site, from Purdue University, which clearly supports my usage was WRONG. They write:

“It's a common mistake arising from good intentions: you want to use gender-neutral pronouns, so you write "their," "they," and "them" instead of "his," "he," and "him."
There's just one problem: "their," "they," and "them" are plural pronouns and should not be used with singular subjects or objects.”

Back to that singular plural thingy.

But, the web page was written back in 2004, so who knows, maybe I am right after all.

:-)

This was an interesing web page on the subject http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html#X1a