But the reflexive pronoun poses a challenge. Some people prefer 'themself' as a singular option, because 'themselves' just _feels_ too plural.

#ChicagoManualOfStyle prefers 'themself' but allows 'themselves'.

The AU Govt #StyleManual prefers 'themselves' but allows 'themself'.

#APA says, "Both 'themselves' and 'themself' are acceptable as reflexive singular pronouns; however, 'themselves' is currently the more common usage."

One big challenge of gender-neutral writing is getting used to the roll between singular and plural when the sentence uses someone's name and then their pronoun. This isn't intuitively 'good grammar' for many people.

I am okay with the shift between "Ali wants a free apple and they want to find their keys" but I kind of struggle with 'themself', which I know some people find more safely singular.

I'd rather use 'themselves', which I think most people instinctively reach for in colloquial settings when the subject is unknown.

I used the following example in a Facebook writers' group, where it was greeted with mirth: "Smells like someone shat themselves."

#language #they #SingularThey #InclusiveLanguage #Writing #Editing

Here's what some major style guides say:

The Australian Government #StyleManual strongly favours the singular they: "Our use of language reflects changes in society. There is wide agreement about using language to support equality between all genders."

Because users of AU Govt Style are often working with institutional or bureaucratic text, they recommend:

– rephrasing in the second person with an instructional tone: "You must provide copies of your application to your referees."

– using plural pronouns: "Candidates must provide copies of their applications to their referees."

– avoiding pronouns altogether: "Every candidate must provide copies of the application to referees."

As an aside, I am not really a fan of AU Govt Style's preference to hyphenate 'gender-fluid', 'gender-queer' and 'non-binary'. I prefer to run them together: genderfluid; genderqueer; nonbinary.

#language #they #SingularThey #InclusiveLanguage #Writing #Editing

RT @tetue@twitter.com
University of Oxford Style Guide : https://www.ox.ac.uk/public-affairs/style-guide + https://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxford/media_wysiwyg/University%20of%20Oxford%20Style%20Guide.pdf #StyleGuide #StyleManual #writing #ParisWeb