As a subscriber through my job to the Chicago Manual of Style Online, I received an email announcing the release of the 17th edition this September. Some of the changes are discussed on their Shop Talk blog—among them the styling of website titles, new and expanded sections in the citation chapters, and—arguably the most anticipated—treatment of singular they.
The gender-neutral pronoun problem has always bugged me. The standard accepted replacements his or hers and he or she are clunky and ruin the rhythm of prose, and one as a pronoun can sound pretentious. Rewording to avoid either of these options can prove a tedious process that doesn’t even improve the text. It’s just one of those grammar quirks that makes lots of people want to pull out their hair.
The current edition of CMoS does not permit singular they in formal writing, recommending editors to either reword to make the subject plural or replace with he or she or his or her.
Well, hallelujah! The 17th edition will, while not outright encouraging it, afford more flexibility in use of singular they in certain contexts, even in formal writing. For example, the sentence “Everyone must remove their hats” will no longer be considered erronious (although, in this instance, your would work just as well).
Flexibility notwithstanding, the alternative recommendations are still preferred by CMoS, and the Shop Talk blog reiterates that the audience is the most important consideration when making these and other such usage choices.
While many sticklers will be annoyed by this new flexibility, I am personally delighted! Singular they has been used in spoken English for centuries because it comes naturally in speech. For instance, one of the following statements would not make you sound cool at a party:
- Someone has to move their car.
- Someone has to move his or her car.
The latter example feels just as awkward to type as it does to say.
In addition to singular they as a replacement for generic he, the 17th edition will also permit singular they to refer to a specific person who prefers to be referenced using a gender-neutral pronoun. This is allowed even in formal writing.
One caveat with the use of singular they in reference to one specific person is that the verb is conjugated the same as when referring to a group (e.g., “They are going to the store” when one person is going to the store). You obviously wouldn’t want to say “They is going to the store.”
The Humble Pedant 