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If I'm not sure about the gender of Brown may I write:

Brown was merry and their cat was sad.

... ? I met such a construction in "Harry Potter", but I don't know whether native speakers are happy with it.

In particular, is it ok to use they after we have actually used the name of a specific individual and it is clear that the case in point is a single person?

Serguei
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1 Answers1

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Definitely not, at least according the rules for singular they that I absorbed when I was growing up. The relevant rule is that you cannot use singular they for somebody you refer to by name. So you can say:

Somebody named Leslie called, and they want you to call them back. (The referent is someone.)

But not

Leslie called, and they want you to call them back. (The referent is Leslie.)

This grammatical rule seems to be changing, in that more people are finding these constructions acceptable nowadays, especially since some alternatively gendered people want to be referred to as "them" (something I would have a hard time doing). However, I would still recommend rewriting the sentence to avoid breaking this rule.

And one last comment: if you don't know Brown's sex, how do you know that he or she was merry (unless it's hard to tell Brown's gender by looking at him or her)?

Peter Shor
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  • Is the possessive their following the same usage trajectory as they? – Phil Sweet Feb 24 '16 at 16:28
  • Thank you, @Peter Shor . What about the intermediate case (a common noun)? "The owner was merry and ?? cat was sad." – Serguei Feb 24 '16 at 18:02
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    "The owner was merry and their cat was sad" sounds perfectly fine to me, even if it's clear you should know the gender of the owner. However, I wouldn't be surprised if some people use the rule: don't use singular they when you know the person's gender. – Peter Shor Feb 24 '16 at 18:47
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    @Phil: I believe the possessive their is following the same trajectory as they. – Peter Shor Feb 24 '16 at 18:50