Conventions of Composition Rule 133 Practice

1. Wrong: A girl who loves grammar left their book in the classroom by mistake.

Better: A girl who loves grammar left her book in the classroom by mistake.

Explanation: A girl is singular and feminine, so the pronoun taking the place of someone must also be singular and feminine.

2. Wrong: Each boy on that team worked their hardest to win the final game.

Better: Each boy on that team worked his hardest to win the final game.

Explanation: Each is singular and masculine, but their is plural or singular and gender-non-binary, so these pronouns disagree.

3. Wrong: Every man, woman, and child wanted to know their place in line.

Better: Every man, woman, and child wanted to know his or her or their place in line.

Also better: They all wanted to know their places in line.

Explanation: Every creates a singular set up, so the pronouns referring to it must be singular. If agreement in this case sounds awkward, you can change your whole sentence to plural.