4 ms·

I think it's known as a singular they, which is gender neutral and possibly more politically correct. When I was learning grammar back in the day it was a no-no

• rsynnott 6y ago
  Languages change, often quite quickly. English, in particular, does not _have_ universal hard and fast rules about grammar; the correct grammar is what is used, not what’s ordained. Particularly in the late 19th and early 20th century, there was were attempts to impose hard rules, sometimes _new_ rules by reference to Ancient Greek and Latin, which were then believed to have immutable rules. Some of the grammarians writing the books introducing this even complained that great works of English literature didn’t obey the rules they’d just made up, which you’d think would have given them pause. In a sign that there’s nothing new under the sun, there’s at least one example where we have fragments from important second century Roman historical texts only because a fourth century Latin grammarian used one as an example of ‘incorrect’ grammar (in reality the language had just changed).
  • jdmichal 6y ago
    > ... sometimes _new_ rules by reference to Ancient Greek and Latin ... This is also where we get the idea of not ending a sentence with a preposition. That's a very Latin rule, but makes no sense in a Germanic language where prepositions are sometimes used not directly as prepositions but rather to modify a verb. Think of the sentence "I sit up" as an example.
  • dingaling 6y ago
    > the correct grammar is what is used, not what’s ordained. There are no ordained rules but if that grammar and lexicon is confusing, as in the case of 'they' noted above, then it is de facto invalid. The purpose of language is to communicate in an unambiguous and expressive manner. Not to make shortcuts for the locutor.