What is the correct pronoun-antecedent agreement in 'Each student brought his or her book'?

• A. The antecedent is plural, so 'their' is correct.
• B. The antecedent is singular, so 'his or her' is correct.
• C. 'Their' should be used only for masculine.
• D. 'His' is always correct.

Answer: (D)

Pronoun-antecedent agreement means the pronoun must match the number of its antecedent. Each student is singular, so the pronoun should be singular as well. When the gender isn’t specified, the traditional, standard way to cover both possibilities is to use his or her. Using only his would exclude female students, and while their can be used as a gender-neutral singular in modern writing, the sentence as written appropriately uses his or her to stay singular and inclusive. Therefore, the sentence correctly uses his or her to match the singular antecedent.