pronoun
1
BAD : Anyone should speak not just one but several languages.
GOOD : Everyone should speak not just one but several languages.
BAD : Anybody else in the class speaks Japanese.
GOOD : Everybody else in the class speaks Japanese.
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To refer to all the people in a group, use everybody/everyone (NOT anybody/anyone ).
2
See ANYBODY (↑ anybody )/ANYONE (↑ anyone )
3
BAD : Anyone are welcome to join us.
GOOD : Anyone is welcome to join us.
BAD : If anybody want one, please write your name on the board.
GOOD : If anybody wants one, please write your name on the board.
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anybody/anyone + singular verb: 'If anyone calls, tell them I'll be back after lunch.'
4
DUBIOUS : If anyone wants to leave now, he may do so.
GOOD : Anyone who wants to leave now may do so.
DUBIOUS : When anyone reads these lines, he or she will think that the writer is very sad.
GOOD : Anyone reading these lines will think that the writer is very sad.
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Avoiding sexism in your writing
In the past, when people referred to a member of a group containing both men and women (or boys and girls), they used the pronouns he/him/his :
A good doctor listens carefully to his patients.
Anyone who wants to join should give his name to the secretary.
Nowadays, many people feel that this usage is unfair to women. If you want to avoid the danger of seeming sexist, you can use one of the following alternatives.
Use They/Them/Their to refer back to an indefinite pronoun (anyone, somebody etc) :
Anyone who wants to join should give their name to the secretary.
Some people object to this usage in formal styles, insisting that they (plural) does not agree in number with anyone (singular). This usage is nevertheless very common.
Make all the forms plural:
Good doctors listen carefully to their patients.
Those who want to join should give their name to the secretary.
Design the sentence in such a way that a personal pronoun is not needed. For example, instead of saying ‘If anyone wants to go now, he may do so’, just say ‘Anyone who wants to go now may do so.’
Use he or she, his or her, etc :
A good doctor listens carefully to his or her patients.
This alternative is found in formal writing, and so is the use of he/she, his/her, s/he, etc.
However, they are generally felt to produce awkward and unnatural sentences, especially when they are repeated, as in:
If a doctor listens to his or her patients, he or she will be in a better position to help them.