Ewww Grammar

Don't get me wrong, I hate grammar and all of it's little tricks and rules. However, it is a necessary evil. The whole point of this blog is for me to learn something new every day so I feel that a grammar lesson is appropriate.

I learned today that I have been incorrectly using 'their' to avoid saying "his/her." For example, instead of saying:


A dentist is responsible for the teeth of his/her patients.

---I would say:---

A dentist is responsible for the teeth of their patients.


I'm sure that many people use 'their' to avoid 'his/her' and to still remain politically correct. However, as I was reminded today, 'their' is plural and doesn't make sense because 'dentist' is singular.

The easy solution is to just change the noun to plural:

Dentists are responsible for the teeth of their patients.

Stupid stupid grammar, but a lesson learned.