Editing Singular they (section)

===Usage guidance in English grammars===
<!--''Cambridge Grammar of the English Language'' (2002)-->
''[[The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language]]'' discusses the prescriptivist argument that ''they'' is a plural pronoun and that the use of ''they'' with a singular "antecedent" therefore violates the rule of agreement between antecedent and pronoun, but takes the view that ''they'', though ''primarily'' plural, can also be singular in a secondary ''extended'' sense, comparable to the purportedly extended sense of ''he'' to include female gender.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|p=494}}

Use of singular ''they'' is stated to be "particularly common", even "stylistically neutral" with antecedents such as ''everyone'', ''someone'', and ''no one'', but more restricted when referring to common nouns as antecedents, as in
{{blockindent|"''The patient'' should be told at the outset how much ''they'' will be required to pay."{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|p=493}}}}
{{blockindent|"''A friend of mine'' has asked me to go over and help ''them''&nbsp;..."{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|p=494}}}}

Use of the pronoun ''themself'' is described as being "rare" and "acceptable only to a minority of speakers", while use of the morphologically plural ''themselves'' is considered problematic when referring to ''someone'' rather than ''everyone'' (since only the latter implies a plural set).{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|p=494}}

There are also issues of grammatical acceptability when reflexive pronouns refer to singular noun phrases joined by ''or'', the following all being problematic:
{{blockindent|"Either the husband or the wife has perjured ''himself''." [ungrammatical]}}
{{blockindent|"Either the husband or the wife has perjured ''themselves''." [of questionable grammaticality]}}
{{blockindent|"Either the husband or the wife has perjured ''themself''." [typically used by only some speakers of Standard English].{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|p=494}}}}

<!--''A Student's Introduction to English Grammar'' (2005) -->
On the motivation for using singular ''they'', ''A Student's Introduction to English Grammar'' states:{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2005|p=104}}

{{blockquote|text=this avoidance of ''he'' can't be dismissed just as a matter of political correctness. The real problem with using ''he'' is that it unquestionably colours the interpretation, sometimes inappropriately&nbsp;... ''he'' doesn't have a genuinely sex-neutral sense.}}

The alternative ''he or she'' can be "far too cumbersome", as in:
{{blockindent|"''Everyone'' agreed that he or she would bring his or her lunch with ''him or her''.}}
or even "flatly ungrammatical", as in
{{blockindent|"''Everyone's'' here, isn't ''he or she''?{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2005|p=104}}}}

"Among younger speakers", use of singular ''they'' even with definite noun-phrase antecedents finds increasing acceptance, "sidestepping any presumption about the sex of the person referred to", as in:

{{blockindent|"You should ask ''your partner'' what ''they'' think."}}
{{blockquote|"''The person'' I was with said ''they'' hated the film." Example given by Huddleston et al.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2005|p=104}}}}