Christanford“How do you pronoun-ize pronomialize nouns like 'anyone', 'everyone' and 'no one'?”
The prescriptive grammarians recommend only
he, him, himself, and
his. It is said that in these cases, the pronouns are not gendered and represent both genders. These are used in more formal styles.
Does everyone have his textbooks with him?
If anybody has his book with him, could he please lend it to me?
No one should have found himself in such a predicament.______
Some writers use the awkward (but supposedly 'politically correct') solution of
he or she, him or her, and so on.
Does everyone have his or her textbooks with him or her?______
Writers have used
they, them, themselves, and
their for centuries, and it is the most common solution for most contexts, including ordinary everyday conversation.
Does everyone/anyone have their textbooks with them?
I hope that nobody will ever find themselves in a situation like that.CJ