单数they
可接受性和​​规范性指导 > 英国使用指南

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In the first edition of A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (published in 1926) it is stated that singular they is disapproved of by grammarians and should be avoided in favour of  the generic he. Examples of its use by eminent writers are given, but it is suggested that "few good modern writers would flout [grammarians] so conspicuously as Fielding and Thackeray", whose sentences are described as having an "old-fashioned sound".
In the second edition of Fowler's, Fowler's Modern English Usage (edited by Sir Ernest Gowers and published in 1965), it is stated that  singular they is disapproved of by grammarians and, while common in colloquial speech, should preferably be avoided in favour of  the generic he in prose.  Numerous examples of its use by eminent writers are given, but it is still suggested that "few good modern writers would flout [grammarians] so conspicuously as Fielding and Thackeray".
According to the third edition of Fowler's (The New Fowler's Modern English Usage, edited by Burchfield and published in 1996)  singular they has not only been widely used by good writers for centuries, but is now generally accepted, except by some conservative grammarians, including the Fowler of 1926, who ignored the evidence:
The Complete Plain Words was originally written in 1948 by Sir Ernest Gowers, a civil servant, in an attempt by the British civil service to improve "official English". A second edition, edited by Sir Bruce Fraser, was published in 1973. It refers to they or them as the "equivalent of a singular pronoun of common sex" as  "common in speech and not unknown in serious writing " but "stigmatized by grammarians as usage grammatically indefensible. The books advice for "official writers" (civil servants) is to avoid its use and not to be tempted by its  "greater convenience", though "necessity may eventually force it into the category of accepted idiom".
A new edition of  Plain Words, revised and updated by Sir Ernest Gowers' great granddaughter, Rebecca Gowers,  was published in 2014.
It notes that singular they and them have become much more widespread since Gowers' original comments, but still finds it "safer" to treat a sentence like 'The reader may toss their book aside' as incorrect "in formal English", while rejecting even more strongly sentences like
"There must be opportunity for the individual boy or girl to go as far as his keennness and ability will take him."
The Times Style and Usage Guide (first published in 2003 by The Times of London) recommends avoiding sentences like
"If someone loves animals, they should protect them."
by using a plural construction:
"If people love animals, they should protect them."
The Cambridge Guide to English Usage" (2004) finds singular they "unremarkable":
It expresses several preferences.
"Generic/universal their provides a gender-free pronoun, avoiding the exclusive his and the clumsy his/her. It avoids gratuitous sexism and gives the statement broadest reference . . .  They, them, their are now freely used in agreement with singular indefinite pronouns and determiners, those with universal implications such as any(one), every(one), no(one), as well as each and some(one), whose reference is often more individual . . ."
The Economist Style Guide refers to the use of they in sentences like
"We can't afford to squander anyone's talents, whatever colour their skin is."
as "scrambled syntax that people adopt because they cannot bring themselves to use a singular pronoun".
The New Hart's Rules is aimed at those engaged in copy editing, and the emphasis is on the formal elements of presentation including punctuation and typeface, rather than on linguistic style but—like The Chicago Manual of Style—makes occasional forays into matters of usage.
It advises against use of the purportedly gender-neutral he, and suggests cautious use of they where he or she presents problems.
The 2011 edition of the New International Version Bible uses singular they instead of the traditional he when translating pronouns that apply to both genders in the original Greek or Hebrew. This decision was based on research by a commission that studied modern English usage and determined that singular they (them/their) was by far the most common way that English-language speakers and writers today refer back to singular antecedents such as whoever, anyone, somebody, a person, no one, and the like."