Skip to Main Content
What the style guides say
- APA: Singular “they” is covered in Section 4.18 of the APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition
- Always use a person’s self-identified pronoun, including when a person uses the singular “they” as their pronoun.
- Also use “they” as a generic third-person singular pronoun to refer to a person whose gender is unknown or irrelevant to the context of the usage.
- Do not use “he” or “she” alone as generic third-person singular pronouns. Use combination forms such as “he or she” and “she or he” only if you know that these pronouns match the people being described.
- Do not use combination forms such as “(s)he” and “s/he.”
- If you do not know the pronouns of the person being described, reword the sentence to avoid a pronoun or use the pronoun “they.” [From https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar/singular-they]
Library Media Resources Center
LaGuardia Community College
31-10 Thomson Avenue, room E101
Long Island City, NY 11101
Email the Library
