Singular or Plural?
After submitting the final essay, Morgan told the professor that they had misunderstood the assignment instructions.
One person — Morgan
The professor emailed the class because they had postponed the lecture until Friday.
One person — the professor, based on the sentence's intended meaning
Taylor forgot their student ID, so they returned to the dormitory to retrieve it.
One person — Taylor
Riley said they would lead the class discussion on language and identity.
One person — Riley
Casey said they were ready for the presentation, and the other students said they were ready too.
First “they”: one person, Casey. Second “they”: multiple students
The dean and the department chair announced that they would review theuniversity's new academic policies.
Multiple people — the dean and department chair
The two graduate students submitted their literature reviews after they incorporated the professor's feedback.
Multiple people — the two graduate students
The roommates argued about the rent because they disagreed about how the expenses should be divided.
Multiple people — the roommates
The members of the debate team agreed that they needed stronger evidence to support their claims.
Multiple people — the debate team members
The student researcher told the lab assistants that they had finished collecting the samples before they arrived.
Both uses are ambiguous without context — the researcher or lab assistants could be involved
The journalist interviewed the anonymous source after they provided evidence of misconduct within the organization.
One person — the anonymous source
The researcher told the committee that they had discovered an error in the statistical analysis.
One person — the researcher
The committee interviewed the applicant after they reviewed the candidate's portfolio.
Ambiguous — the researcher or the committee could have reviewed the portfolio
The anonymous reviewer submitted feedback after they finished evaluating the article's argument.
One person — the anonymous reviewer
The director spoke to the actors after they learned that they would need to reshoot the final scene.
Both uses are ambiguous — “they” could refer to the director or the actors
The student and their research partner disagreed about the results, even though they had collected the data together.
Multiple people — the student and research partner
The professor met with the teaching assistants after they complained that the grading workload was excessive.
Ambiguous without more context — the professor or the teaching assistants could be the ones who complained
When the student approached the counselor, they explained that they were struggling to balance work and school.
Both uses are ambiguous without context — “they” could refer to the student or the counselor
The department chair told the professors that they needed to update the curriculum before the next semester.
Ambiguous — “they” could refer to the department chair or the professors
The professor and the student presented their findings, explaining that they had revised the hypothesis after they reviewed the new evidence.
Both uses are ambiguous — “they” could refer to the professor and student together, or either one individually
Each applicant was asked to explain why they believed they were qualified for the fellowship.
One person in both cases — each applicant individually
The thesis adviser and the doctoral candidate revised the chapter after they realized that they had overlooked an important source.
Both uses are ambiguous without context. The first could refer to the adviser and candidate together; the second could refer to either or both
The editor contacted the novelist and the illustrator because they had noticed inconsistencies between the manuscript and the artwork.
Ambiguous — “they” could refer to the editor, the novelist and illustrator, or another contextually understood group
The historian and the archivist published separate reports, but they agreed that they needed more evidence before drawing a conclusion.
The first “they” most naturally refers to the historian and archivist together; the second is ambiguous without context.
The chairperson told each panelist that they should explain how they reached their conclusions, then asked whether they agreed with one another.
First “they”: likely one person, each panelist individually. Second “they”: one person, each panelist. Third “they”: multiple people, the panelists