pronoun complements

As an English teacher, this is one of my biggest pet peeves. Every day, I read something such as, "Everyone must turn in their homework" or "Neither of the girls brought their lunch." Ouch! It sounds correct, though. . .right? Therein lies the problem.

You see, indefinite pronouns such as "anyone," "anybody," "everyone," "everybody," "each," "either," and "neither" are singular. Just think about the words. . ."anyONE," "everyONE," "anyBODY," "everyBODY," etc. The words "one" and "body" are in there for a reason. Do I really have to explain everything? Okay, I guess I do. That's the purpose of this blog.

If you are using a singular indefinite pronoun, it takes a singular complement. Hence, our earlier sentences should read, "Everyone must turn in his or her homework" and "Neither of the girls brought her lunch." Learn which pronouns are singular and which are plural, and you'll stop making these maddening errors.

That being said, it's time for "each" reader of this blog to continue improving "his or her" grammar. Do it for the ol' professor. Well, I'm really not that old. I'm really not.