Editing Singular they (section)

==Inflected forms and derivative pronouns==
Like the "singular ''you''", "singular ''they''" permits a singular antecedent, but is used with the same verb forms as plural ''they'',<ref>{{cite web |title=Chicago Style for the Singular ''They'' |date=2017-04-03 |url=https://cmosshoptalk.com/2017/04/03/chicago-style-for-the-singular-they/ |website=cmosshoptalk.com |access-date=14 February 2020 |quote=Like singular you, singular ''they'' is treated as a grammatical plural and takes a plural verb. |archive-date=22 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222164116/http://cmosshoptalk.com/2017/04/03/chicago-style-for-the-singular-they/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kruth |first1=Rebecca |last2=Curzan |first2=Ann |title=TWTS: Singular "they" and verb agreement |url=https://www.michiganradio.org/post/twts-singular-they-and-verb-agreement |website=Michigan Radio |date=16 June 2019 |access-date=13 February 2020 |archive-date=13 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213164558/https://www.michiganradio.org/post/twts-singular-they-and-verb-agreement |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/singular-they |title=Welcome, singular "they" |website=American Psychological Association |access-date=2020-03-01 |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209234714/https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/singular-they |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Singular Nonbinary 'They': Is it 'they are' or 'they is'?  |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/singular-nonbinary-they-is-or-they-are |website=Merriam Webster |access-date=22 May 2023 |quote=...the most natural-sounding verb is the one to use. 'They' always goes with a plural verb... |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112203414/https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/singular-nonbinary-they-is-or-they-are |archive-date=November 12, 2020}}</ref> and has the same inflected forms as plural ''they'' (i.e. ''them'', ''their'', and ''theirs''),{{sfn|Pullum|2012}} except that in the reflexive form, ''themself'' is sometimes used instead of ''themselves''.<ref name="websters-2019-09">{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/themself|title=Themself|website=merriam-webster.com|access-date=27 December 2020|archive-date=11 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111225310/https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/Themself|url-status=live}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Inflected forms of third-person personal pronouns
|-
! Pronoun
! Subjective<br />([[nominative]])
! Objective<br />([[accusative]])
! {{nowrap|[[Possessive adjective|Prenominal possessive]]}}<br />(dependent genitive)
! {{nowrap|[[Possessive pronoun|Predicative possessive]]}}<br />(independent genitive)
! [[Reflexive pronoun|Reflexive]]
|-
! scope="row" | [[He (pronoun)|He]]
| {{em|He}} is my son.
| When my son cries, I hug {{em|him}}.
| My son tells me {{em|his}} age.
| If I lose my phone, my son lends me {{em|his}}.
| My son dresses {{em|himself}}.
|-
! scope="row" | [[She (pronoun)|She]]
| {{em|She}} is my daughter.
| When my daughter cries, I hug {{em|her}}.
| My daughter tells me {{em|her}} age.
| If I lose my phone, my daughter lends me {{em|hers}}.
| My daughter dresses {{em|herself}}.
|-
! scope="row" | Plural ''[[they]]''
| {{em|They}} are my children.
| When my children cry, I hug {{em|them}}.
| My children tell me {{em|their}} ages.
| If I lose my phone, my children lend me {{em|theirs}}.
| My children dress {{em|themselves}}.
|-
! scope="row" | {{nowrap|Singular ''they''}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/nonbinary-they-is-in-the-dictionary | title=A Note on the Nonbinary 'They' | access-date=12 January 2023 | archive-date=12 January 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112202727/https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/nonbinary-they-is-in-the-dictionary | url-status=live }}</ref>
| {{em|They}} are my child.
| When my child cries, I hug {{em|them}}.
| My child tells me {{em|their}} age.
| If I lose my phone, my child lends me {{em|theirs}}.
| My child dresses {{em|themself}} [or {{em|themselves}}].
|-
! scope="row" | [[Generic he|Generic ''he'']]
| {{em|He}} is my child.
| When my child cries, I hug {{em|him}}.
| My child tells me {{em|his}} age.
| If I lose my phone, my child lends me {{em|his}}.
| My child dresses {{em|himself}}.
|-
! scope="row" | [[Neutral gender|''It'']]
| {{em|It}} is my child.
| When my child cries, I hug {{em|it}}.
| My child tells me {{em|its}} age.
| If I lose my phone, my child lends me {{em|its}}.
| My child dresses {{em|itself}}.
|}

''Themself'' is attested from the 14th to 16th centuries. Its use has been increasing since the 1970s{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002 |p=494}}{{sfn|Merriam-Webster|2002|p=731}} or 1980s,{{sfn|Fowler|Burchfield |1996|p=777}} though it is sometimes still classified as "a minority form".{{sfn|Fowler|2015|pp=811–812}} In 2002, Payne and [[Rodney Huddleston|Huddleston]],<!--Chapter 5 is by those two --> in ''The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language'', called its use in standard dialect "rare and acceptable only to a minority of speakers" but "likely to increase with the growing acceptance of ''they'' as a singular pronoun".{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002 |p=494}} It is useful when referring to a single person of indeterminate gender, where the plural form ''themselves'' might seem incongruous, as in:

{{blockquote|"It is not an actor pretending to be Reagan or Thatcher, it is, in grotesque form, the person themself."|author=[[Ian Hislop]] (1984){{sfn|Hislop|1984 |p=23}}|source=Fowler's{{sfn|Fowler|Burchfield |1996|p=776, themself}}}}

===Regional preferences===
The Canadian government recommends ''themselves'' as the reflexive form of singular ''they'' for use in Canadian federal legislative texts and advises against using ''themself''.{{sfn|Canadian government |2015}}