Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[wanderer]

I saw a sentence as below

No other sport figures can compete with their popular recognition and appeal.

I thought "No other" takes only singular noun. Therefore, the sentence should be

"No other sport figure can compete with his/ her popular recognition and appeal."

Am I right?

[CP]

Your sentence is more grammatically correct. These days, people try to avoid being politically incorrect by being grammatically incorrect and turning individual people into plurals--using "they" and "them" and "their" even when it is obvious that the subject is only one person, and the person is a male or a female. I've even seen such atrocities as, "A person giving birth should be good to theirself," as if anyone but a woman could give birth, and as if she is some pluralized entity about whom both grammar and good sense should be thrown out the window.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[wanderer]

Thank you.