"Someone has forgotten their book". Why can we use 'Their" and what's the difference if instead of "their" we use "his/her"?
Answer
We use they and its derivative forms in this case because we don't know the person's sex. Since English doesn't have a gender neutral singular pronoun, "they" has actually become one:
Singular they is the use of they, or its inflected or derivative forms, such as them, their or themselves, to refer to a single person or an antecedent that is grammatically singular. It typically occurs with an antecedent of indeterminate gender, as in sentences such as:
- "Everyone returned to their seats."
- "Somebody left their umbrella in the office. Would they please collect it."
- "If a person doesn't want to go on living, they are often very difficult to help."
(From Wikipedia)
He is used when referring to a male, and she to a woman, so we can't use them when we don't know the person's gender, such as when we say "someone."
It's actually a complex issue; a lot of people consider the Singular They as informal. I personally think that this is the best option that exists in English. You should avoid it in formal writing by trying to think of another way to say the sentence without "they" (rewriting), because of the people who may think it's ungrammatical (e.g. "Someone has forgotten this book" has the same meaning.) But if you must use a gender-neutral pronoun—don't fight with it and use "they."
Since the issue is complex and everyone has a different opinion, you can use he in formal writing and be backed by linguists who share the same opinion, but it'd sound awkward when using it informally.
A nice article about the subject can be found in here, in case you'd like to see more information.
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