I'm a native english speaker and I have this question on some English homework. I swear either of the options would work. Am I wrong?

You're right. "His or her" has traditionally been considered more prescriptively correct, but "their" is more idiomatic (i.e. it's what native English speakers more typically say in real life).

Either is fine. I would personally choose 'their' because 'his or her' sounds clunky.

His or her is technically correct, but the phrase “his or her” in spoken English is fading out so much that it’s starting to make the user sound like they’re trying too hard to seem smart. “Their” sounds the most natural, but in professional/academic writing I’d use “his or her”.

Update in the comments because I have no idea how to edit reddit posts: I checked the answer key, and it said that the correct answer is "his or her". However this sounds incredibly clunky and everyone I know, including me, would use "their" in this context. Apparently "his or her" used to be the correct according to other people in the comments, but "their" is what most people, including me, would use in actual conversation. Thank you English speaking netizens of Reddit for helping me with my English homework.

Oh dear, you have run into a bit of a problem. So, there are a number of older grammar sticklers who will insist that "his or her" is the correct answer because "their" is plural. These are the same people who insist that "whom" should be used ever. On the other hand, basically all native English speakers will use "their" over "his or her" in this case. The forms of "they" have been used informally in English as singular for a long time and have become the de facto word for when you don't know the gender of a singular person. The phrase "his or her" sounds very awkward, especially if it is spoken out loud. It is also going to sound pretentious like the person is trying to act smart. The only real case where you would see "his or her" is in a very formal or older document. And on the homework assignments of said grammar sticklers. If you think you are in that case, go with "his or her." Just know that we are all saying "their."

Traditionally, the answer was "his", which was considered neuter when it came to unspecified people. However, this usage started to fall out of favor in the 1970s, being replaced by "his or her". But "his or her" is more clumsy sounding and is normally relegated to printed words. Moreover, "his or her" has become rarer over the last 20 years or so, and "their" has become more acceptable in both formal spoken English and written work. ("their" has been commonplace in informal spoken English for centuries.) As for me, I would recast the sentence to avoid the issue altogether. I'd say "Not one hiker would set out without **a** compass."

Roses are red Violets are blue Singular they is older Than singular you

Both work, but their is the much better option. If someone's gender is unknown we use they/them/theirs. Writing she/he or her/him or her/his is just unnecessarily clunky, extra words for no reason

I'm a copyeditor and the vast majority of style guides I work with these days (ranging from very formal academic ones to casual, flexible ones for fiction) stipulate 'their' in this situation. 'Their' has been a non-gendered, neutral pronoun for centuries - it's not some 'modern, woke thing' - and is grammatically correct in this context. 'His or her' is *also* grammatically correct, but most publishers don't recommend it because it's clunky and it also excludes people who don't fit into the his/her binary, as well as continuing to perpetuate the notion of such a binary. (Regardless of your opinion about that, it's a legit consideration for publishers and academic institutions.)

Just to clarify, 'his or her' is one full option here, as in "without his or her compass"

I'd just use 'a'

the answer is "his or her" but only because singular they used to be considered incorrect for completely arbitrary reasons. At this point singular they is more common than his or her.

Either way. I like it when pronouns and antecedents agree in number. In this case you could rewrite as No hiker would set out without a compass. And sometimes you can stay gender neutral by pluralizing. Rather than Every student must bring his book to class. write All students must bring their books to class.

Hiker is non gendered. Therefore, they are looking for “their”.

"Their" should be considered completely normal here and this use has nothing to do with modern gender politics -- it's been in standard use since Middle English and shows up in places like the King James Bible and Shakespeare. For instance, "Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone **them** with stones, till **they** die." (Deuteronomy 17:5 from the KJV)

It depends. There are some people who take the view that "singlular they" is not correct, so to be a correct match for number based on "not one", the correct answer is "his or her". There is, however, clear evidence that "singular they" as a non-gender-specific way to refer to a single individual has actually been a feature of English going back centuries, and is a long established part of the language. Whether "singular they" is correct or incorrect really comes down to whether you take a prescriptivist or descriptivist approach. The prescriptivist would say that "they is plural so can not be correct". The descriptivist would say "there is clear evidence people use singular they so it is correct".

You don't know the gender so their.

If they are asking you to choose on an English exam the desired answer is going to be "his or her" even though there's nothing actually wrong with "their".

You're right both are perfectly fine

Both are correct, but "their" is used more often. "Not one hiker" sounds awkward. It should be "No hiker." ("Not one" isn't incorrect, it's just unnatural sounding and not how we actually talk.)

Their includes the other two and flows better

X them all out and put an "a" instead. Sentence is still gramatically correct, but avoids any political correctness artificially added.

either works but people don't usually say "his or her"; they just switch to "their" when the gender is unclear

Their sounds better but if it was me, I'd just say "A compass"

No writer would start a sentence with "Not one" unless they were trying to imitate the 1950s or sound French. Just use "No hiker". The whole sentence seems deliberately archaic.

ESL professor here: ‘not one hiker’ is singular, so, technically, you need a singular object (thus ‘his or her’ as the correct response on the answer key). But as several others have noted here, because this feels clunky (and also, because pronouns are increasingly not just grammatical but political), most native speakers would opt for ‘their’. So context is key here: in prescriptive situations like a grammar test, formal essay etc, ‘his or her’ is an appropriate choice. But conversationally, ‘their’ is instead. A good example of prescriptive vs descriptive grammar

I still remember getting marked down for using 'their' instead of 'his or hers' almost 20 years ago. 😤

Their is only a newly accepted word for a singular person. Historically, “his or her” is the only appropriate answer to go with “each,” which is singular. In the late 1980’s in the USA, I was in advanced English and my educators would not allow me to use “their” for a single person.

You don't know the gender of the hiker so it's "their compass"

Why can't the alphabet people agree on a single, gender neutral term? Unambiguously singular. 

*depart

You should edit the parentheses to reflect: (his**,** ~~or~~ her, **or** their)

This question makes me think of this hilarious James Acaster bit: https://youtu.be/Zt5qJC1xQ8A?si=i0irbk3iOqRjbjUV

Any of those works. I actually thought this was written on purpose, as in the author was trying to be inclusive lol

I would go for his/her, their is obviously better, but with how English curriculum works, their would be considered plural and thus have a pronoun conflict with “hiker” (singular)

Despite having a long history of being used to refer to individuals, 'they' and it's variations are still often considered plural pronouns, especially in the most technical formal definitions (which are often very slow to change if they ever do). In most usage, either would be correct, but an assignment probably wants to to stick to the exact letter of the 'rules' being taught, so 'his or her' is almost certainly the answer they're looking for.

One does not go hiking without one's compass.

This homework question is dumb. Both answers could be used in English. "His or her" is most likely the "correct" answer to the question (the one that your teacher wants), but you're unlikely to ever hear a native English speaker say "his or her" instead of "their." And frankly, "his or her" isn't even TECHNICALLY correct. We DO use singular "they" for individuals of undetermined gender in English. Using "his or her" is an archaic trend in written language which we really don't do even in formal writing anymore. So your teacher wants "his or her" as the answer, but "their" is definitely more used in English.

The only wrong answer is their, which is plural, so "not one" would make it incorrect.

When was the test made?  If it was older his/her, newer their.

Hiker is singular. His or her is also singular. Their is plural. The correct answer for proper grammar is his or her. There are those who would use their in their daily speech, but daily speech is not the ruling for proper grammar. Technically, one would also be correct with his without the "or her" part because his is also grammatically proper for a person of unknown gender. Basic rule of thumb, if society accepts the person wearing pants, he/him type pronouns are not necessarily wrong, but only when society accepts the person wearing a skirt would she/her type pronouns be allowed. If you know specifically a she/her, then that should be used. If you don't know, then he/him type are allowed.

BUT the sentence starts with “Not one hiker” so it should be the singular his or her. Even though Their is what 99% of native speakers would say.

Ok, here is the problem. English does not really have a gender neutral pronoun. So we borrow a plural pronoun and use it like it is singular. So in this case "their" works if it is being used as a non-binary pronoun. If you are being tested on singular versus plural (and not whether you are politically correct) then you must use "his or her" because "their" in this case represents plural not gender neutrality. (And to be fair, the question was probably written by someone who doesn't pay attention to or does not accept non-binary people. If the class is about being politically correct or gender studies or something other than grammar, then "their" would be better. In the real world, "their" is better.

Tests love edge cases, and this is one of them. But it's also a trick question. First of all, the trick. 'His or her' is *always* going to be wrong, because it's not proper English (and apparently a lot of native speakers should be careful of their reading here). 'His' is a third-person singular possessive pronoun (masculine). 'Her' is a third-person object pronoun. They should not be used together. The proper phrase would be 'his or hers'. Since only one choice is proper English, even if it's casual English, you have your answer. \---- Now for the edge case. Saying 'his or hers' is correct when speaking of **one** subject of unknown gender. This is not the case here. The phrase 'not one hiker' means that the sentence is speaking of **all hikers** as a group. Therefore, we don't have unknown gender; we have *both genders.* This means that their is correct from this standpoint as well.

You have a lot of leeway here - the differences are purely stylistic. I would personally just say "his". This is the traditional way of referring to a person who may be male or female. The trend then shifted towards "his or her" to explicitly recognise both men and women. Most people now would just say "their". All of the above are grammatically correct.

Either is grammatically correct but “their” is more inclusive

Both work though their is inclusive of the possibility that they are neither a he nor she. 'He or she' is something you'll mostly see from either formal language or people being rude to non-binary people and 'their' is just completely ubiquitous at this point, as in even the most hardcore enbyphobe ends up using 'their' all the time. So probably go with that to sound more natural

Both are right, but “his or her” would score you the points on the test. That said, whoever actually cares about this is either a pedant or a transphobe.

My guess is the author intends the correct answer to be "his or her" under the misguided belief that they can't refer to an individual person.

His. His is a gender neutral singular. Hers is gender spesific and their is plural

"his or her" is technically the grammatically correct answer because it is only referring to a singular person, whereas "their" is plural. But in reality, any native English speaker would say "their" in conversation

Both options are correct, as is the unwritten third option of just assigning a gender even if it’s unknown. The second two would be preferred because saying his or her is clunky and defeats the purpose of becoming a better writer.

If “his or her” means “his” or “her,” depending on the person’s gender, it makes sense. Actually saying “his or her” in a sentence like that sounds old-fashioned and clunky. No one says it like that. “They” encompasses all genders in one word, and the singular they has become grammatically accepted and correct in recent years.

If this is for homework you should use “his or her” as that would be grammatically correct (hiker is singular, so a singular pronoun is needed). It should be noted, as others have pointed out, that “their” is more commonly used in day-to-day speech as it is easier to say and more politically correct.

I'm a native English speaker. The "Not ONE hiker…"tells me this calls for a singular pronoun: his or her. I know that the "singular their is now considered politically correct, but it still throws me when I read it. I want to be respectful of everyone, but I have a hard time believing that of all the people who don't wish to be referred to with the terms he/him/his or she/her/hers there isn't ONE who could come up with a gender-neutral pronoun that would be acceptable to the majority of those who so identify. What about GUP? "Gender Under clothes/Unidentified/Undetermined/Under consideration/Under transition/Unassuming/ Unembraced Person?

I know what you mean but I'd go with 'their'. It gets used a lot but whenever I see something like 'his or her' written it looks clunky and I wonder if they realise that 'their' exists!

I think your homework wants to say "his or her" is correct, but know that "they" is considered grammatically correct now in most places. For example, the publication manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) would consider the singular they to be grammatically correct. I think the MLA format also encourages the use of singular they. A lot of people don't know this. I guess because we don't think proper grammar can change, but it can. Also, like a lot of other people said. "They" is usually use more often in real like too. It's less of a mouth full than "his or her" and it's also more inclusive (which I think is one of the reasons why the singular they is starting to be accepted into proper grammar).

I think it's "his or her" because since you already said "one" using the plural form isn't quite right.

His or her was what I was taught in school as a more inclusive way to phrase it than he, lol. Which is funny because aside from that one lesson everyone uses singular their. I’m not even very old (26) but it makes sense since that was before many people knew about genders outside the binary; though it still seems weird since his or her is so long and singular their has always been right there lol (and like I said, we were using it)

My usage: Not one hiker would set out without his or her compass. Hikers would not set out without their compass.

In proper English, "he" is the gender neutral subject pronoun. Use "he."