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Can anybody help me ? Which is correct ?

  1. Each of the actors did their part well. or
  2. Each of the actors did his part well.

Thanks in advance.

Laurel
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gramminterester
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  • It depends entirely on whether or not you know if the actors are male or not. (And, if so, what stylistic guidance you are following.) – Jason Bassford Nov 11 '18 at 23:11

2 Answers2

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If all of the actors are male, then you could use "his", however, if not all of the actors are male, or the genders of the actors are unknown, then the modern convention is to either use the singular "their", or to use "his or her".

He or she versus they (Oxford)

When talking about actors in a play, TV programme or film, instead of "did", we use verbs like acted, played or performed.

Glorfindel
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Michael Harvey
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Note: An actor is usually said to play a part rather than to do it. To do is used in other activities.

Each of the actors did (played) his part well.

For many years this was the standard form in English unless the actors were all women in which case it would be, "Each of the actors did her part well." The term 'he' was traditionally understood to include 'he' and 'she'.

Each of the actors did (played) their part well.

In recent years, as a concession to gender politics,'they' is used as a singular gender-neutral pronoun and takes the third-person-singular verb.

These days, for reasons of sexual politics, it is unwise to use 'he' when referring to a group of people.

chasly - supports Monica
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  • chasly, you sound a little resentful about "gender politics". Is that intentional? – Michael Harvey Nov 11 '18 at 13:03
  • Thanks Chasly, Is there any mistake in the second sentence- Each of the actors did (played) their part well. This was there in a question paper to spot the error in this sentence. – gramminterester Nov 11 '18 at 13:21
  • Michael Harvey - If I've said anything that is factually incorrect then please correct me. Whether or not I'm resentful is irrelevant on a language forum. Why are you even interested? – chasly - supports Monica Nov 11 '18 at 13:51
  • gramminterester - There are two possible errors. (1) The use of 'did' instead of 'played' (2) 'Each' is singular and requires a singular verb and a singular prounoun. If your text book is an old one then 'their' may be considered incorrect. If the textbook is new then 'their' will probably be considered correct. – chasly - supports Monica Nov 11 '18 at 13:59
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    -1 for as a concession to gender politics. There are no less than 386 upvotes on ELU for an answer that starts with Singular they* enjoys a long history of usage in English*. – FumbleFingers Nov 11 '18 at 14:00
  • Fumble Fingers - You are perfectly at liberty to downvote me. The answer that has 386 upvotes doesn't define how long a 'long history' is (20 years? 100 years?). Apart from that, the answer is very similar to mine - it makes the same points in different words. I probably would have upvoted it myself. – chasly - supports Monica Nov 11 '18 at 14:10
  • @FumbleFingers Can't think that I've disagreed with you before but I've upvoted Chasly again......think a downvote is a trifle harsh when there's room for disagreement. – Ronald Sole Nov 11 '18 at 14:34
  • "Concession" [to] "gender politics" are a couple of expressions of opinion. – Michael Harvey Nov 11 '18 at 14:38
  • Don't disagree with me - disagree with the 385 other people (besides me) who upvoted that ELU answer! :) Note that the first two words there link to a Wikipedia page saying The singular they* had emerged by the 14th century, about a century after plural they.* – FumbleFingers Nov 11 '18 at 15:12
  • FumbleFingers - I'm not swayed by the number of votes. I stand corrected however because I didn't notice the link. I see from reading the article, that although it was used for a long time there was a period when it was criticised and I know from experience that many grammar teachers around the 1950-60s taught the use of 'he' as gender impartial. If you read my answer carefully there is nothing I say that contradicts the history of the last 120 years or so. I intended to answer the OP's actual question in a concise fashion not start a historical debate. I think I succeeded in the former. – chasly - supports Monica Nov 11 '18 at 16:30