5 ms·

Singular "they" is gender-neutral and grammatically correct, I don't know why more people don't use it.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
vacri 11y ago
I don't know why people dismiss it "because it sounds a little funny to me", but are okay with abominations like "he/she" or "zhe"...
- licoricetic 11y ago
  maybe those are different people
  - vacri 11y ago
    A venn diagram will provide all possible combinations of opinions, but there are definitely people out there who suggest 'he/she' or 'zhe' instead of 'they' because the latter 'sounds funny'
    - douche 11y ago
      Zhe has got to be the stupidest proposal I've heard of. Let's invent a word using a letter that almost never leads non-loanword English words to solve a problem that only pedants and people who are eager to find sexist oppression in the innocuous are bothered by.
- pyre 11y ago
  I'm of the opinion that "they" shouldn't be both singular and plural, but zhe/zer/whatever are just too "alien" sounding to work (besides the fact that they are just too close to he or her, and guaranteed to cause confusion if someone hears the word wrong).
patrickaljord 11y ago
People probably don't use it because at every English school in non English-speaking countries, they teach you that "they" is for plural only. I had personally never heard until recently that "they" could be singular too. It also really sounds weird to a French like me.
- ams6110 11y ago
  They also taught that "they" is plural in American schools up until the last decade or so. I remember getting points off of papers for misusing "they" in a singular context. So it sounds weird to me too. We were always taught that "he" is a gender-neutral singular as needed.
  - dpark 11y ago
    When were you taught to use "he" as a gender neutral pronoun on English? I've never heard anyone in an educational position advocate that. I was taught to use the horribly awkward "he or she" (his or hers, etc) or alternatively to restructure to actually refer to plural. e.g. Instead of "A software engineer should test his code" use "Software engineers should test their code". I'm glad the "neutral they" is catching on.
- pyre 11y ago
  I grew up in the US, and I still think that singular "they" is weird. I remember thinking that it was weird in grade school, and wishing that there was a better gender-neutral pronoun. Part of the problem with it being used in singular and plural context is that it's possible to use it in an ambiguous way where the ambiguity comes from the lack of enough context to differentiate between plural or singular. Separate words would remove this.
  - dang 11y ago
    It's weird in theory but not in practice. Listen closely and you'll find that every every English speaker uses it without thinking.
GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
"They" is just as singular as "you" was way back when.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

vacri 11y ago

I don't know why people dismiss it "because it sounds a little funny to me", but are okay with abominations like "he/she" or "zhe"...

licoricetic 11y ago
maybe those are different people
- vacri 11y ago
  A venn diagram will provide all possible combinations of opinions, but there are definitely people out there who suggest 'he/she' or 'zhe' instead of 'they' because the latter 'sounds funny'
  - douche 11y ago
    Zhe has got to be the stupidest proposal I've heard of. Let's invent a word using a letter that almost never leads non-loanword English words to solve a problem that only pedants and people who are eager to find sexist oppression in the innocuous are bothered by.
pyre 11y ago
I'm of the opinion that "they" shouldn't be both singular and plural, but zhe/zer/whatever are just too "alien" sounding to work (besides the fact that they are just too close to he or her, and guaranteed to cause confusion if someone hears the word wrong).

patrickaljord 11y ago

People probably don't use it because at every English school in non English-speaking countries, they teach you that "they" is for plural only. I had personally never heard until recently that "they" could be singular too. It also really sounds weird to a French like me.

ams6110 11y ago
They also taught that "they" is plural in American schools up until the last decade or so. I remember getting points off of papers for misusing "they" in a singular context. So it sounds weird to me too. We were always taught that "he" is a gender-neutral singular as needed.
- dpark 11y ago
  When were you taught to use "he" as a gender neutral pronoun on English? I've never heard anyone in an educational position advocate that. I was taught to use the horribly awkward "he or she" (his or hers, etc) or alternatively to restructure to actually refer to plural. e.g. Instead of "A software engineer should test his code" use "Software engineers should test their code". I'm glad the "neutral they" is catching on.
pyre 11y ago
I grew up in the US, and I still think that singular "they" is weird. I remember thinking that it was weird in grade school, and wishing that there was a better gender-neutral pronoun. Part of the problem with it being used in singular and plural context is that it's possible to use it in an ambiguous way where the ambiguity comes from the lack of enough context to differentiate between plural or singular. Separate words would remove this.
- dang 11y ago
  It's weird in theory but not in practice. Listen closely and you'll find that every every English speaker uses it without thinking.

GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago

"They" is just as singular as "you" was way back when.