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Okay, so I came across a strange, yet interesting dilemma, There was an English test in my high school in which I got a challenging MCQ. Here it is:
Anyone can have ________ name in the newspaper.
Choices given were:
1- Their
2- His
3- Her
I selected the option 1, all my friends did! But my teacher sort of challenged me to verify whether I was correct or not! I'm not sure myself, so I'm asking this question on Stack Exchange. Thanks.

Ronson James
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    @Mark: No matter how old you are, it's not really a matter of "his / her" being objectively correct. Per the top answer to the original question of which this is a duplicate: Singular they* enjoys a long history of usage in English*. Many pedants and grammarians have worked tirelessly over generations to teach/bully children into changing the way native speakers actually use the language. But as usual, they've had little effect. We speak the way our peers do, not the way teachers tell us to speak. – FumbleFingers Oct 05 '17 at 16:17

1 Answers1

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Back when I learned grammar, the correct answer would have been "his" or "his or her," as the antecedent "anyone" is clearly singular. However, these days people accept the plural "their" as a pseudo-singular possessive pronoun, so most people would accept your answer as correct. Still, it is good form to know about pronoun-antecedent agreement so that you can intelligently defend your answer.

Here is a Wikipedia article on the topic, if you are interested in learning more. (Also click on the link recommended by FumbleFingers in his excellent comment, above.)

Mark Hubbard
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