singular pronouns

Jason Lezak’s anchor leg in yesterday’s 4×100 freestyle relay stunned viewers. “There’s never been [an anchor swim like that] in my memory — not running down somebody who holds the world record, who’s on their game,” American head coach Eddie Reese said. “That was incredible.”

Here’s the deal. Somebody is singular, so every reference to it must be singular. Coach Reese should have said, “…not running down somebody who holds the world record, who’s on his game.”

As tricky pronouns go, somebody is in good company. All these pronouns are singular:

* THE ONES: one, everyone, someone, anyone, no one
* THE THINGS: everything, something, anything, nothing
* THE BODIES: everybody, somebody, anybody, nobody
* MISC: each, either, neither

Go for the gold: Give these pronouns singular treatment!