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They can be used singular. Most people use it without thinking about it in conversation.

by Somasis 11y ago

monochromatic 11y ago
Only people who don't mind sounding ignorant.
- enneff 11y ago
  Relax. They sound just fine.
- TheyAreFine 11y ago
  "...including Chaucer, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Thackeray, and Shaw" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they
  - dang 11y ago
    Oh yeah. Also Byron ("Every body does and says what they please"), Austen ("Nobody thinks of that when they fall in love"), Thackeray ("A person can't help their birth"), Wilde ("Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"), Shaw ("It's enough to drive anyone out of their senses"), Lewis Carroll: "'Whoever lives there,' thought Alice, 'it'll never do to come upon them this size: why, I should frighten them out of their wits!'" C. S. Lewis: "She kept her head and kicked her shoes off, as everybody ought to do who falls into deep water in their clothes." Doris Lessing: "And how easy the way a man or woman would come in here, glance around, find smiles and pleasant looks waiting for them, then wave and sit down by themselves." E.B. White: "But somebody taught you, didn’t they?” This is settled. Singular 'they' is good English and always has been. The rule against it was just made up by 18th century grammarians (including the fascinating Ann Fisher [4], who surely would regret it now) and they even got a law passed in 1850 prohibiting it, which only goes to show how widely used it was. 1. https://web.archive.org/web/20150328135337/http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/sgtheirl.html https://web.archive.org/web/20150328135337/http://www.crossm... 2. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002748.html http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002748.h... 3. http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/austhlis.html http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/austhlis.html 4. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-onlanguage-t.html?_r=0&gwh=CC1FD7DF9F445A743AE7FFF6E7016729&gwt=pay http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-onlanguage-...
    - monochromatic 11y ago
      Hmm. Well, if Garner's[1] on board with it, I guess I can be too. [1] http://www.lawprose.org/blog/?p=502 http://www.lawprose.org/blog/?p=502
- mhurron 11y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They "Alternatively, they as a singular pronoun can refer to an individual without strictly giving it a gender." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they "Singular they is the use of they, or its inflected or derivative forms, such as them, their, or themselves, to refer to a single person or an antecedent that is grammatically singular. It typically occurs with an antecedent of indeterminate gender"

They can be used singular. Most people use it without thinking about it in conversation.

by Somasis 11y ago

They can be used singular. Most people use it without thinking about it in conversation.

monochromatic 11y ago

Only people who don't mind sounding ignorant.

enneff 11y ago
Relax. They sound just fine.
TheyAreFine 11y ago
"...including Chaucer, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Thackeray, and Shaw" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they
- dang 11y ago
  Oh yeah. Also Byron ("Every body does and says what they please"), Austen ("Nobody thinks of that when they fall in love"), Thackeray ("A person can't help their birth"), Wilde ("Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"), Shaw ("It's enough to drive anyone out of their senses"), Lewis Carroll: "'Whoever lives there,' thought Alice, 'it'll never do to come upon them this size: why, I should frighten them out of their wits!'" C. S. Lewis: "She kept her head and kicked her shoes off, as everybody ought to do who falls into deep water in their clothes." Doris Lessing: "And how easy the way a man or woman would come in here, glance around, find smiles and pleasant looks waiting for them, then wave and sit down by themselves." E.B. White: "But somebody taught you, didn’t they?” This is settled. Singular 'they' is good English and always has been. The rule against it was just made up by 18th century grammarians (including the fascinating Ann Fisher [4], who surely would regret it now) and they even got a law passed in 1850 prohibiting it, which only goes to show how widely used it was. 1. https://web.archive.org/web/20150328135337/http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/sgtheirl.html https://web.archive.org/web/20150328135337/http://www.crossm... 2. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002748.html http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002748.h... 3. http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/austhlis.html http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/austhlis.html 4. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-onlanguage-t.html?_r=0&gwh=CC1FD7DF9F445A743AE7FFF6E7016729&gwt=pay http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-onlanguage-...
  - monochromatic 11y ago
    Hmm. Well, if Garner's[1] on board with it, I guess I can be too. [1] http://www.lawprose.org/blog/?p=502 http://www.lawprose.org/blog/?p=502
mhurron 11y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They "Alternatively, they as a singular pronoun can refer to an individual without strictly giving it a gender." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they "Singular they is the use of they, or its inflected or derivative forms, such as them, their, or themselves, to refer to a single person or an antecedent that is grammatically singular. It typically occurs with an antecedent of indeterminate gender"