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It's indeed useful to distinguish singular you from plural you, which is something that most other languages do. As a non native speaker, I'm sometimes confuse
by laurentlb 2y ago
It's indeed useful to distinguish singular you from plural you, which is something that most other languages do.
As a non native speaker, I'm sometimes confused and wish to see a distinction between between singular and plural they (they-all?)
- tmtvl 2y agoI thought 'they' is always plural? I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they.
- modestygrime 2y agoThey can refer to a single person.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- coldpie 2y ago> I thought 'they' is always plural? You see someone two blocks away doing something unusual and say, "what are they doing?"
- alistairSH 2y agoOnly if you can't determine gender. Otherwise, you'd be "what is she/he doing?" It's usually clear from context. How often do you look two blocks away and see a group of unrelated individuals doing different things to the point "what are they doing" is unclear? Can't say I've ever run into that in my 48 years.
- coldpie 2y ago> Only if you can't determine gender Sure, that's why I said 2 blocks away. The point is "they" is not exclusively used for plural, which was the claim I was replying to.
- jadyoyster 2y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they You might just not notice it.
- alistairSH 2y agoOh, I know singular they is used/exists. I'm only pointing out that there is more precise language available most of the time, should it be needed - either she/he or adding details elsewhere in the conversation.
- ted_bunny 2y agoThey also refers to the abstract "one."