How many are you refering to?

An individual decided that their thoughts were out of sync. In fact, in only one sentence, the individual had lost his or her individuality! "How could this happen?" one might ask. The answer lies in the mischievous nature of pronouns. In this politically-correct world, one cannot simply use the pronoun "he" in reference to something that could be either male or female. However, using "his or her" ofter appears too cumbersome for writers. That is where the pronoun "their" makes its move. It sneaks into a sentence, tricking writers into believing that they can refer back to a singular item. But "their" is a trickster . . .

Fortunately, the writing center has found a way to beat and satisfy this challenging foe. First, one can use "he or she" to deny "their" any place in the text. But even better than that, one can use "their" but change the noun that it references to the plural. That way, individuals will not lose their individuality!