单数they
可接受性和​​规范性指导 > 美国使用指南

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Garner's Modern American Usage (2003)推荐小心使用单数they，并且尽可能避免使用，因为这么用有点别扭。
"如果名词–代词不一致性可以避免，尽量避免。如果不可以避免，尽可能小心使用，因为有人会怀疑你的文化水平 . . .".
Garner认为单数they的使用在英国英语中的接受度更大一些：
"美国英语使用者比英国英语使用者更不能接受这种变化，美国人觉得不确定的they已经是越来越不标准化。"
并且美国英语使用者显然抵制这种变化:
"它让许多有文化的美国人望而却步，这不幸地对问题的最终解决方案造成了障碍。"
他将使用单数they和everyone，anyone和somebody等先行词的趋势视为不可避免的:
"尽管这些发展对纯粹主义者来说可能令人不安，但它们是不可逆转的。 语法学家所说的一切都不会改变它们。"
In the 14th edition (1993) of The Chicago Manual of Style, the University of Chicago Press explicitly recommended use of singular use of they and their, noting a "revival" of this usage and citing "its venerable use by such writers as Addison, Austen, Chesterfield, Fielding, Ruskin, Scott, and Shakespeare."
From the 15th edition, this was changed. In Chapter 5 of the 16th edition, now written by Bryan A. Garner, the recommendations are:
and
According to The American Heritage Book of English Usage, many Americans avoid use of they to refer to a singular antecedent out of respect for a "traditional" grammatical rule, despite use of singular they by modern writers of note and mainstream publications:
"Most of the Usage Panel rejects the use of they with singular antecedents as ungrammatical, even in informal speech. Eighty-two percent find the sentence The typical student in the program takes about six years to complete their course work unacceptable. . . . panel members seem to make a distinction between singular nouns, such as the typical student and a person, and pronouns that are grammatically singular but semantically plural, such as anyone, everyone and no one. Sixty-four percent of panel members accept the sentence No one is willing to work for those wages anymore, are they?"
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association explicitly reject the use of singular they and gives the following example as "incorrect" usage:
"Neither the highest scorer nor the lowest scorer in the group had any doubt about their competence."
while also specifically taking a stand that generic he is unacceptable. The APA recommends using he or she, recasting the sentence with a plural subject to allow correct use of they, or simply rewriting the sentence to avoid issues with gender or number.
Strunk & White, the authors of The Elements of Style find use of they with a singular antecedent unacceptable:
Their assessment, in 1979, was
Joseph M. Williams, who wrote a number of books on writing with "clarity and grace", discusses the advantages and disadvantages of various solutions when faced with the problem of referring to an antecedent such as someone, everyone, no one or a noun that does not indicate gender and suggests that this will continue to be a problem for some time. He "suspect[s] that eventually we will accept the plural they as a correct singular" but states that currently "formal usage requires a singular pronoun".
According to The Little, Brown Handbook, most experts—and some teachers and employers—find use of singular they unacceptable:
It recommends using he or she or avoiding the problem by rewriting the sentence to use a plural or omit the pronoun.
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) maintains that singular they is incorrect: