Editing Singular they (section)

=====Notional plurality or pairwise relationships=====
Although the pronouns ''everybody'', ''everyone'', ''nobody'', and ''no one'' are singular in form and are used with a singular verb, these pronouns have an "implied plurality" that is somewhat similar to the implied plurality of collective or group nouns such as ''crowd'' or ''team'',{{efn|Especially in British English, such collective nouns can be followed by a ''plural verb and a plural pronoun''; in American English such collective nouns are more usually followed by a ''singular verb and a singular pronoun''.{{sfn|Fowler|2015|p=161}}}} and in some sentences where the antecedent is one of these "implied plural" pronouns, the word ''they'' cannot be replaced by generic ''he'',{{sfn|Kolln|1986|pp=100–102}} suggesting a "notional plural" rather than a "bound variable" interpretation {{See below|{{section link||Grammatical and logical analysis}}, below}}. This is in contrast to sentences that involve multiple pairwise relationships and singular ''they'', such as:
{{blockindent|"''Everyone'' loves ''their'' mother."{{sfn|Duží |Jespersen |Materna|2010 |p=334}}}}
{{blockindent|{{"'}}I never did get into that football thing', she said after ''everyone'' returned to ''their'' seat."{{sfn|Davids|2010}}}}
{{blockindent|"''Everyone'' doubts ''themselves''/''themself'' at one time or another."}}

There are examples where the antecedent pronoun (such as ''everyone'') may refer to a collective, with no necessary implication of pairwise relationships. These are examples of plural ''they'':
{{blockindent|"At first ''everyone'' in the room was singing; then ''they'' began to laugh." Example given by Kolln.{{sfn|Kolln|1986|pp=100–102}}}}
{{blockindent|"''Everybody'' was crouched behind the furniture to surprise me, and ''they'' tried to. But I already knew ''they'' were there." Example given by Garner.{{sfn|Garner|2003|p=643}}}}
{{blockindent|"''Nobody'' was late, were ''they''?" Example given by Swan.{{sfn|Swan|2009|loc=§528}}}}
Which are apparent because they do not work with a generic ''he'' or ''he or she'':
{{blockindent|"At first ''everyone'' in the room was singing; then ''he or she'' began to laugh." Example given by Kolln.{{sfn|Kolln|1986|pp=100–102}}}}
{{blockindent|"''Everybody'' was crouched behind the furniture to surprise me, and ''he'' tried to. But I already knew ''he'' was there."}}
{{blockindent|"''Nobody'' was late, was ''he''?"}}
In addition, for these "notional plural" cases, it would not be appropriate to use ''themself'' instead of ''themselves'' as in:
{{blockindent|"''Everybody'' was crouched behind the furniture to surprise me, but ''they'' instead surprised ''themself''."}}