Is the word "Everybody" singular or plural?

Question

Would the sentence "Does everybody have his textbook?" be grammatically correct, or is there a number issue? Should "his" be "their", or is the given sentence correct as is?

Answer 1

Everybody is singular and thus takes the singular verb.
Imagine the simple subject/verb form to convince yourself.

He eats. She eats. They eat.
Now replace the pronoun with everybody.
Everybody eat. or Everybody eats.
Of course it is "Everybody eats."

P.S. Everyone who still owns a copy of Strunk and White,
raise it over your head in your left hand.

Answer 2

Everybody is treated as a singular word such as: Everybody is here.

The noun and verb are in agreement with regard to number.

The confusion comes in when pronouns are added. The sentence is correct. Colloquial speech would probably be "does everybody have their textbook?" But that is not technically correct. "their" in that case would be ambiguous because it could be "everybody's textook" ... or another group of people we refer to with "their textbook" and it becomes confusing. When saying "his textbook" we refer to the individuals that are part of this singular group.

I hope that made sense.

Sue

Sue

Answer 3

"Everybody" is singular, even though it means more than one person. Actually, if you want to be technically correct, you could say, "Does everybody have his or her textbook?". But hardly anybody does.

Answer 4

"Everybody" is singular. The sentence is grammatically correct.

Answer 5

the word Everbody speaks as whole, Everyone speaks as an individual. So, 'Does everybody have their textbook'' that means the whole class should have their textbok, and 'Does everyone have their textbook'' meaning not the whole class have their books. you may want to use: Does everyone have their textbook?

Answer 6

everybody is singular.

here's the list of singular pronouns i memorized in school:

each, either, neither, one, everyone, everybody, no one, nobody, anyone, anybody, someone, somebody

hope this helped :)

Answer 7

It should be "their", because it is plural. Well thanks for the negative ratings, but I am not wrong. I have proof right here that using "their" is acceptable!

Traditionally, the masculine singular pronouns he1, his, and him have been used generically to refer to indefinite pronouns like anyone, everyone, and someone (Everyone who agrees should raise his right hand) and to singular nouns that can be applied to either sex (painter, parent, person, teacher, writer, etc.): Every writer knows that his first book is not likely to be a bestseller. This generic use is often criticized as sexist, although many speakers and writers continue the practice.Those who object to the generic use of he have developed various ways of avoiding it. One is to use he/she or she/he (or he or she or she or he) or the appropriate case forms of these pairs: Everyone who agrees should raise his or her (or her or his or his/her or her/his) right hand. Forms blending the feminine and masculine pronouns, as s/he, have not been widely adopted, probably because of confusion over how to say them.Another solution is to change the antecedent pronoun or noun from singular to plural so that the plural pronouns they, their, and them can be used: All who agree should raise their right hands. All writers know that their first books are not likely to be bestsellers.

Answer 8

plural..............should be their...........................using his, is sexist