Which sentence demonstrates CORRECT pronoun use?

Question

A.
All parents need to discipline their children for breaking the rules.
B.
Each student must fill out their applications for grants and scholarships.
C.
Everybody who rides the rollercoaster needs to wear their seatbelt.
D.
No one can find their purse, so someone must have stolen them.

Answer 1

The sentence that demonstrates CORRECT pronoun use is:

A. All parents need to discipline their children for breaking the rules.

In this sentence, the pronoun "their" correctly refers back to "parents," and it is clear and appropriately matched.

The other sentences have issues with pronoun use:

• B. "Each" is a singular subject, so it should not use "their" — it would be better to say "his or her."
• C. "Everybody" is also singular, so ideally it should use "his or her" instead of "their."
• D. The pronoun "them" is incorrectly used because "no one" is singular and should refer to a singular entity ("his or her").

So, while A is correct, B, C, and D have multiplicity problems with singular subjects.