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This is Everyday Grammar. I'm John Russell.
这里是《每日语法》节目。我是约翰·拉塞尔。
I was reading the news recently and saw a strange story.
最近我在看新闻的时候，看到了一篇奇怪的报道。
It was about a jewel thief.
这篇报道是关于一个珠宝盗贼的。
This thief always leaves a business card at the scene of the crime!
这个盗贼总是在犯罪现场留下自己的名片！
Here is what the story said:
报道是这样描述的：
The thief left their business card at the crime scene.
这个盗贼在犯罪现场留下了名片。
Why would the author write, "the thief left their business card"?
为什么作者会这么写：“盗贼留下了他们的名片”呢？
"Thief" is singular, one thief.
“Thief”是单数，一个盗贼。
"Their" is plural, and is the possessive form of "they".
“Their”是复数，是“they”的所有格形式。
So why did the writer use "their"?
那么为什么作者要用“their”呢？
The answer is about gender.
答案与性别有关。
Nobody knows if the thief is male or female, well, nobody accepts the thief.
没有人知道盗贼是男是女，没有人接受盗贼。
So, the newspaper writer did not use "his" or "her", because the thief's gender is a mystery.
所以，新闻记者没有使用“his”或“her”，因为这位盗贼的性别还是个谜。
In cases where a person's gender is not known, many writers use "their" in place of "his" or "her".
在不知道某人性别的情况下，许多作者用“their”来代替“his”或“her”。
The writer could have written this: The thief left his or her business card at the crime scene.
作者可以这样写：盗贼在犯罪现场留下了他或她的名片。
But, to be honest, such language is becoming less common in America.
但是，老实说，这样的语言在美国越来越不常见了。
Whether in everyday speaking or in writing, "their" as a singular pronoun is just becoming more common.
无论是在日常用语还是写作中，“their”作为单数代词的用法越来越普遍。
And that solves the mystery of "their".
这就解开了“their”之谜。
Now, I wonder when the police will catch that jewel thief...
现在我关心的是，警察什么时候才能抓住那个珠宝盗贼...
And that's Everyday Grammar.
以上就是今天的《每日语法》。
