EDIT: It has come to my attention that this is not true apposition, which would be ‘one of them, those people.’ Even so, my explanation may give you some idea of what you are looking for, and so I will leave it.
‘One of them people.’
The two objects, them and people, are in apposition to each other. Each of them is a noun and each serves the same grammatical function; the purpose of each one, however, is to clarify the identity of the other.
In Modern English, it is unusual to find pronouns (them) in apposition; however, in other languages, it is quite normal. When I studied Old Icelandic I often came across such constructions as:
‘He Authun went to see them his friends.’
‘She his sister went to see him Authun.’
In Modern English you will see apposition in many constructions, usually in titles, but rarely with pronouns:
‘King Ethelred was the rightful king.’
‘Emperor Julius Caesar was supposedly born via Caesarian section, whence the name.’
‘The cook, John, likes his own soup more than we, his customers, do.’
Or, less commonly:
‘Look at them stars.’
But never in Modern English:
‘They stars are looking down at us.’
A different analysis may simply say that them people is a colloquial variant of those people, and, to some extent, it is; but I thought that you might want a more thorough explanation of what exactly was happening here.
I did not answer all of your questions, but I do hope that this helps.
Using «they/their/them» to refer to objects | Options |
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Posted: Monday, October 25, 2010 10:26:19 AM |
Joined: 5/29/2009
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Location: United States
Am I correct in thinking it is grammatically incorrect to use «their» to refer to anything that isn’t a group of people (or any group of living beings, for that matter)? If so, I cannot think of any way to word the following sentences without sounding incredibly redundant:
«Improper installation of the shingles probably rendered them more susceptible to wind forces.»
«The shingles were probably rendered more susceptible to wind forces by their installation practices.»
«Given their overall condition and the nature of their installation, the shingles were probably rendered more susceptible to wind forces.»
The only way I can think of ridding the sentence of «their» is by doing something like «the installation practices of the shingles probably rendered the shingles more susceptible to wind forces.»
Help!
Posted: Monday, October 25, 2010 10:54:51 AM |
Joined: 7/5/2010
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Location: United Kingdom
Because you have already established the noun, it is correct to use ‘they/their/them’ here. The sentence would be too repetitive if you mentioned ‘the shingles’ again.
As The Free Dictionary itself states: ‘[these words can be] used to refer to the one previously mentioned or implied’
Posted: Monday, October 25, 2010 11:41:09 AM |
Joined: 10/8/2010
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Location: Nigeria
Mia wrote:
Because you have already established the noun, it is correct to use ‘they/their/them’ here. The sentence would be too repetitive if you mentioned ‘the shingles’ again.
As The Free Dictionary itself states: ‘[these words can be] used to refer to the one previously mentioned or implied’
Very true.
Posted: Monday, October 25, 2010 11:44:40 AM |
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it has nothing to do with being alive.
them/their is just the pronoun for any plural noun, whether the singular was he, she or it.
installation of the shingle rendered it
installation of the shingles rendered them
the shingles and their installation…
Posted: Monday, October 25, 2010 12:20:09 PM |
Joined: 8/24/2010
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Location: Poland
theair wrote:
Am I correct in thinking it is grammatically incorrect to use «their» to refer to anything that isn’t a group of people (or any group of living beings, for that matter)? If so, I cannot think of any way to word the following sentences without sounding incredibly redundant:
«Improper installation of the shingles probably rendered them more susceptible to wind forces.»
«The shingles were probably rendered more susceptible to wind forces by their installation practices.»
«Given their overall condition and the nature of their installation, the shingles were probably rendered more susceptible to wind forces.»
The only way I can think of ridding the sentence of «their» is by doing something like «the installation practices of the shingles probably rendered the shingles more susceptible to wind forces.»
Help!
Hi,
Mia is right. You can’t repeat all the time, throughout the written text, the same noun which describes a person or thing, can you? To avoid this monotonous and awkward way of saying we use such words as: I, we, you, it, my, mine, our, ours, he, them, itself, your, their, theirs, that, which, etc. called personal, reflexive, possessive or relative pronouns. (Pronouns in the possessive case: my, her, his, its, our, your, their are used as adjectives.)
Posted: Monday, October 25, 2010 1:16:28 PM |
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Since we don’t ( unlike German, for example ) have a neuter gender in English we have no choice anyway.
Posted: Friday, February 4, 2011 10:22:42 PM |
Joined: 2/4/2011
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Location: United States
‘Their’ can’t be used as a adjective when the noun is an Object/thing. However, ‘their’ can be used as an adjective when the noun is a person or animal. Actually, only when subject noun is a person you used their, but I like to think it implies to essential beings/living creatures too.
‘Their’ definition:
«–pronoun
1.
a form of the possessive case of they used as an attributive adjective, before a noun: their home; their rights as citizens; their departure for Rome.
2.
(used after an indefinite singular antecedent in place of the definite masculine form his or the definite feminine form her ): Someone left their book on the table. Did everyone bring their lunch?», (dictionary.com).
By the definition of ‘their’ alone proved that it cannot refer back to an object/thing; unless, it is an essential being.
The major problems in the confusion of that word are:
1. When ‘their’ is used as a adjective it becomes an object to its subject noun. From this rule many misunderstood/confused this term adjective, because the adjective is the object to the subject noun when using ‘their’. By thinking when ‘their’ becomes an adjective (object to the subject noun)many people have misinterpreted the subject noun can be an object when using ‘their’ as an adjective, from confusing these terms of an object when referring to ‘their’ as an adjective.
Research/References: , The New International Webster’s Pocket Grammar & Speech & Style Dictionary of The English Language (c)1998, and The BRIEF ENGLISH HANDBOOK third edition by Edward A Dornan and Charles W.Dawe (c)1990
2. Another reason why people confuse ‘their’ when using it as an adjective is because they misread statement as, «Adjectives and adverbs in English do not change their forms to indicate person, number, or case. However, they do change their forms to indicate degrees of comparison», (P.111-112, The New International Webster’s Pocket Grammar & Speech & Style Dictionary of The English Language). Meaning, adjectives, such as ‘their’, always stay as an object to the subject noun in the sentence it is in.
3. The word ‘it’ can replace adjectives, like ‘their’, but ‘their’ cannot be used as ‘it’ because when using the word ‘it’ usually refers to an object/thing and not an essential being. However, if ‘it’ does refer to an essential being then their maybe use, but when that happen you already replaced ‘their’ with ‘it’ so you just basically switching it back. To prove in how to use the word ‘it’ here is the definition of the word:
«[it] Show IPA pronoun, nominative it, possessive its or ( Obsolete or Dialect ) it, objective it; plural nominative they, possessive their or theirs, objective them; noun
–pronoun
1.
(used to represent an inanimate thing understood, previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context): It has whitewall tires and red upholstery. you can’t tell a book by its cover.
2.
(used to represent a person or animal understood, previously mentioned, or about to be mentioned whose gender is unknown or disregarded): It was the largest ever caught off the Florida coast. who was it? It was John. The horse had its saddle on.
3.
(used to represent a group understood or previously mentioned): The judge told the jury it must decide two issues.
4.
(used to represent a concept or abstract idea understood or previously stated): It all started with Adam and Eve. He has been taught to believe it all his life.
5.
(used to represent an action or activity understood, previously mentioned, or about to be mentioned): Since you don’t like it, you don’t have to go skiing.
6.
(used as the impersonal subject of the verb to be, especially to refer to time, distance, or the weather): It is six o’clock. It is five miles to town. It was foggy.
7.
(used in statements expressing an action, condition, fact, circumstance, or situation without reference to an agent): If it weren’t for Edna, I wouldn’t go.
8.
(used in referring to something as the origin or cause of pain, pleasure, etc.): Where does it hurt? It looks bad for the candidate.
9.
(used in referring to a source not specifically named or described): It is said that love is blind.
10.
(used in referring to the general state of affairs; circumstances, fate, or life in general): How’s it going with you?
11.
(used as an anticipatory subject or object to make a sentence more eloquent or suspenseful or to shift emphasis): It is necessary that you do your duty. It was a gun that he was carrying.
12.
Informal . (used instead of the pronoun its before a gerund): It having rained for only one hour didn’t help the crops.
–noun
13.
(in children’s games) the player called upon to perform some task, as, in tag, the one who must catch the other players.
14.
Slang .
a.
sex appeal.
b.
sexual intercourse.
—Idioms
15.
get with it, Slang . to become active or interested: He was warned to get with it or resign.
16.
have it, Informal .
a.
to love someone: She really has it bad for him.
b.
to possess the requisite abilities for something; be talented, adept, or proficient: In this business you either have it or you don’t.
17.
with it, Slang .
a.
aware of the latest fads, fashions, etc.; up-to-date.
b.
attentive or alert: I’m just not with it early in the morning.
c.
understanding or appreciative of something, as jazz.
d.
Carnival Slang . being a member of the carnival.», (dictionary.com).
Therefore, the main reason why there is confusion on this topic is due to the misunderstanding that when ‘their’ becomes and adjective it is and object to the subject noun, which have to be an essential being; the subject noun is not an object when you use the words ‘their’, ‘they’, ‘them’, etc…
(A)»Improper installation of the shingles probably rendered [them] more susceptible to wind forces.» WRONG
(A)»Improper installation of the shingles probably rendered [it] more susceptible to the wind forces.» CORRECT
(B)»The shingles were probably rendered more susceptible to wind forces by [their] installation practices.» WRONG
(B)»The shingles were probably rendered more susceptible to wind forces by [its] installation practices.» CORRECT
(C)»Given [their] overall condition and the nature of [their] installation, the shingles were probably rendered more susceptible to wind forces.» WRONG
(C)»Given [its] overall condition and the nature of [its] installation, the shingles were probably rendered more susceptible to the wind forces.» CORRECT
Posted: Saturday, February 5, 2011 4:37:50 AM |
Rank: Advanced Member
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Dontale wrote;
(A)»Improper installation of the shingles probably rendered [them] more susceptible to wind forces.» WRONG
(A)»Improper installation of the shingles probably rendered [it] more susceptible to the wind forces.» CORRECT
(B)»The shingles were probably rendered more susceptible to wind forces by [their] installation practices.» WRONG
(B)»The shingles were probably rendered more susceptible to wind forces by [its] installation practices.» CORRECT
(C)»Given [their] overall condition and the nature of [their] installation, the shingles were probably rendered more susceptible to wind forces.» WRONG
(C)»Given [its] overall condition and the nature of [its] installation, the shingles were probably rendered more susceptible to the wind forces.» CORRECT
*********************************************************
{A] Shingles are plural, therefore we use them, not ‘it’.
[B] Shingles are plural therefore we use their, not ‘its’.
[C]Shingles are plural therefore we use their, not ‘its’.
Correct??
EG: «improper installation of THE shingle probably rendered IT more susceptible to wind forces».[Singular]
Correct??
Posted: Friday, May 6, 2011 3:49:46 PM |
Joined: 5/6/2011
Posts: 1
Neurons: 3
Location: Canada
Dontale is absolutely correct. Do a little research — FOR PITY SAKE ! ‘Their’ is linked with in meaning or in definition by many sources as: PRONOUN. So let me keep it SIMPLE and go NO FURTHER. A pronoun CANNOT represent INAMIMATE things/ objects. Also, strap on your thinking cap now, THEIR is a POSSESSIVE form. So, follow: inanimate things cannot OWN other things.
Don’t get all hung up on this singular/ plural thing, which could easily change to «the load of shingles lost its veneer» … get it…?
Correct use is IT not ‘their’. Better still, when faced with a major grammar problem — CHANGE THE SENTENCE/ MAKE IT TWO/ WHATEVER.
Posted: Saturday, May 7, 2011 12:14:05 AM |
Joined: 6/14/2009
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Location: Brighton, England, United Kingdom
Hello brownswaggy, and welcome to the forum.
I’m sure, if you are a native speaker, many of the errors non-native speakers make must get up your nose.
However, the purpose of this forum is to help others with their queries about this complicated language of ours. I think perhaps the use of capital letters is always problematic here, as it could so easily be taken for flaming — something of course that is not allowed.
As a teacher, I can assure you that many of the books to which these students have access contain misinformation: others are difficult to comprehend: even websites are confusing.
Being irascible and patronising can sap people of their confidence: besides:- its simply impolite.
Posted: Saturday, May 7, 2011 9:44:43 PM |
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I’m fairly sure that «…for pity sake…» is incorrect. Perhaps rewriting the phrase as «…for the sake of pity…» would be wise.
Posted: Saturday, April 5, 2014 11:39:06 AM |
Joined: 4/5/2014
Posts: 1
Neurons: 3
Hi I am just replying to this post because I had the same question and I feel like this has not been explained correctly. You CAN use they, their and them for things. A few examples
I’ve bought some apples. I’ll put THEM on the table.
Those cakes are delicious. THEY were made by my grandma.
I personally feel that they sound awkward, but just because it feels awkward does not mean that it’s not correct.
Posted: Saturday, April 5, 2014 4:28:27 PM |
Rank: Advanced Member
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Location: Livingston, Scotland, United Kingdom
Hi!
Brownswaggy wrote:
Quote:
A pronoun CANNOT represent INAMIMATE things/ objects.
Where did that false datum come from?
it
pronoun (subjective or objective)
1. refers to a nonhuman, animal, plant, or inanimate thing, or sometimes to a small baby.
Concerning ‘their’:
theair — you are
not
correct in thinking that ‘their’ cannot be used for inanimate objects.
Take a look at the dictionary:
their (ðɛə)
determiner
1. of, belonging to, or associated in some way with them:
them (ðɛm; unstressed ðəm)
pron
1. (objective) refers to things
or people other than the speaker or people addressed.
The genitive form of ‘they’ or ‘them’ is ‘their’.
‘They’ and ‘them’ are the plurals of ‘it’ (as subject or object of the verb).
A couple of book titles:
Resources for education and their cost-effective use: Peter R. C. Williams, Sanya Onabamiro
Nickel, Cobalt, and Their Alloys — Joseph R. Davis
Also, just a few of the thousands of quotations from books:
The price of commodities in a market is either above or below their cost of production — A History of Western Political Thought, J. S. McClelland
…along with the goods you sell. Their cost will be included in the cost of goods sold. — A Selection of … — Internal Revenue Service Tax Information
… that is, the number of hospital beds and their cost. — Cost and Competition in American Medicine
…pruning loblolly pine trees to various percentages of their height. — Growth Control in Woody Plants — Theodore T. Kozlowski, Stephen G. Pallardy
…and its towers number one thousand, four hundred and thirty-two. Their length and their width are the same size, and their height, ten rods. — Dead Sea Scrolls
Singular they, along with its inflected or derivative forms, them, their, theirs and themselves (also themself, and theirself), is a gender-neutral third-person pronoun. It typically occurs with an unspecified antecedent, in sentences such as:
- «Somebody left their umbrella in the office. Could you please let them know where they can get it?»[1]
- «My personal rule is to never trust anyone who says that they had a good time in high school.»[2]
- «The patient should be told at the outset how much they will be required to pay.»[3]
- «But a journalist should not be forced to reveal their sources.»[3]
This use of singular they had emerged by the 14th century,[2] about a century after the plural they. It has been commonly employed in everyday English ever since and has gained currency in official contexts. Singular they has been criticised since the mid-18th century by prescriptive commentators who consider it an error.[4] Its continued use in modern standard English has become more common and formally accepted with the move toward gender-neutral language.[5][6] Though some early-21st-century style guides described it as colloquial and less appropriate in formal writing,[7][8] by 2020 most style guides accepted the singular they as a personal pronoun.[9][10][11][12]
In the early 21st century, use of singular they with known individuals emerged for people who do not identify as male or female, as in, for example, «This is my friend, Jay. I met them at work.»[13] They in this context was named Word of the Year for 2015 by the American Dialect Society,[14] and for 2019 by Merriam-Webster.[15][16][17] In 2020, the American Dialect Society also selected it as Word of the Decade for the 2010s.[18]
Inflected forms and derivative pronounsEdit
Like the «singular you«, «singular they» permits a singular antecedent, but is used with the same verb forms as plural they,[19][20][21] and has the same inflected forms as plural they (i.e. them, their, and theirs),[22] except that in the reflexive form, themself is sometimes used instead of themselves.[23]
Pronoun | Subjective (nominative) |
Objective (accusative) |
Prenominal possessive (dependent genitive) |
Predicative possessive (independent genitive) |
Reflexive |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
He | He is my son. | When my son cries, I hug him. | My son tells me his age. | If I lose my phone, my son lends me his. | My son dresses himself. |
She | She is my daughter. | When my daughter cries, I hug her. | My daughter tells me her age. | If I lose my phone, my daughter lends me hers. | My daughter dresses herself. |
Plural they | They are my children. | When my children cry, I hug them. | My children tell me their ages. | If I lose my phone, my children lend me theirs. | My children dress themselves. |
Singular they[24] | They are a child. | When a child cries, I hug them. | A child tells me their age. | If I lose my phone, a child lends me theirs. | A child dresses themself [or themselves]. |
Generic he | He is a child. | When a child cries, I hug him. | A child tells me his age. | If I lose my phone, a child lends me his. | A child dresses himself. |
It | It is a child. | When a child cries, I hug it. | A child tells me its age. | If I lose my phone, a child lends me its. | A child dresses itself. |
Themself is attested from the 14th to 16th centuries. Its use has been increasing since the 1970s[25][26] or 1980s,[27] though it is sometimes still classified as «a minority form».[28] In 2002, Payne and Huddleston, in The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, called its use in standard dialect «rare and acceptable only to a minority of speakers» but «likely to increase with the growing acceptance of they as a singular pronoun».[25] It is useful when referring to a single person of indeterminate gender, where the plural form themselves might seem incongruous, as in:
- «It is not an actor pretending to be Reagan or Thatcher, it is, in grotesque form, the person themself.» — Ian Hislop (1984);[29] quoted in Fowler’s[30]
Regional preferencesEdit
The Canadian government recommends themselves as the reflexive form of singular they for use in Canadian federal legislative texts and advises against using themself.[31]
UsageEdit
They with a singular antecedent goes back to the Middle English of the 14th century[32][33] (slightly younger than they with a plural antecedent, which was borrowed from Old Norse in the 13th century),[34] and has remained in use for centuries in spite of its proscription by traditional grammarians beginning in the mid 18th century.[35][36]
Informal spoken English exhibits universal use of the singular they. An examination by Jürgen Gerner of the British National Corpus published in 1998 found that British speakers, regardless of social status, age, sex, or region, used the singular they more often than the gender-neutral he or other options.[37]
Prescription of generic heEdit
Alongside they, it has historically been acceptable to use the pronoun he to refer to an indefinite person of any gender,[38] as in the following:
- «If any one did not know it, it was his own fault.» — George Washington Cable, Old Creole Days (1879);[39] quoted by Baskervill & Sewell.[40]
- «Every person who turns this page has his own little diary.» — W. M. Thackeray, On Lett’s Diary (1869);[41] quoted in Baskervill & Sewell, An English Grammar.[42]
The earliest known explicit recommendation by a grammarian to use the generic he rather than they in formal English is Ann Fisher’s mid-18th century A New Grammar assertion that «The Masculine Person answers to the general Name, which comprehends both Male and Female; as, any Person who knows what he says.» (Ann Fisher[43] as quoted by Ostade[44])
Nineteenth-century grammarians insisted on he as a gender-neutral pronoun on the grounds of number agreement, while rejecting «he or she» as clumsy,[45] and this was widely adopted: e.g. in 1850, the British Parliament passed an act which provided that, when used in acts of Parliament «words importing the masculine gender shall be deemed and taken to include females».[46][47] Baskervill and Sewell mention the common use of the singular they in their An English Grammar for the Use of High School, Academy and College Class of 1895, but prefer the generic he on the basis of number agreement.
Baskervill gives a number of examples of recognized authors using the singular they, including:
- «Every one must judge according to their own feelings.» — Lord Byron, Werner (1823),[48] quoted as «Every one must judge of [sic] their own feelings.»[49]
- «Had the Doctor been contented to take my dining tables as any body in their senses would have done …» — Jane Austen, Mansfield Park (1814);[50][49]
It has been argued that the real motivation for promoting the «generic» he was an androcentric world view, with the default sex of humans being male – and the default gender therefore being masculine.[45] There is some evidence for this: Wilson wrote in 1560:
- «… let us keepe a naturall order, and set the man before the woman for manners sake». — Wilson, The arte of Rhetorique (1560);[51]
- «… the worthier is preferred and set before. As a man is set before a woman …» — Wilson, The arte of Rhetorique (1560);[52]
And Poole wrote in 1646:
- «The Masculine gender is more worthy than the Feminine.» — Poole, The English Accidence (1646);[53] cited by Bodine[54]
In spite of continuous attempts on the part of educationalists to proscribe singular they in favour of he, this advice was ignored; even writers of the period continued to use they (though the proscription may have been observed more by American writers).[55][56] Use of the purportedly gender-neutral he remained acceptable until at least the 1960s,[38] though some uses of he were later criticized as being awkward or silly, for instance when referring to:[57]
- Indeterminate persons of both sexes:
- «The ideal that every boy and girl should be so equipped that he shall not be handicapped in his struggle for social progress …» — C. C. Fries, American English Grammar, (1940).[58]
- Known persons of both sexes:
- «She and Louis had a game – who could find the ugliest photograph of himself.» — Joseph P. Lash, Eleanor and Franklin (1971)[59]
Contemporary use of he to refer to a generic or indefinite antecedentEdit
He is still sometimes found in contemporary writing when referring to a generic or indeterminate antecedent. In some cases it is clear from the situation that the persons potentially referred to are likely to be male, as in:
- «The patient should be informed of his therapeutic options.» — a text about prostate cancer (2004)[60]
In some cases the antecedent may refer to persons who are only probably male or to occupations traditionally thought of as male:
- «It wouldn’t be as if the lone astronaut would be completely by himself.» (2008)[61]
- «Kitchen table issues … are ones the next president can actually do something about if he actually cares about it. More likely if she cares about it!» — Hillary Rodham Clinton (2008)[62]
In other situations, the antecedent may refer to an indeterminate person of either sex:
- «Now, a writer is entitled to have a Roget on his desk.» — Barzun (1985);[63] quoted in Merriam-Webster’s Concise Dictionary of English Usage[64]
- «A Member of Parliament should always live in his constituency.»[65]
In 2010, Choy and Clark still recommend the use of generic he «in formal speech or writing»:[66]
- «… when indefinite pronouns are used as antecedents, they require singular subject, object, and possessive pronouns …»
- «Everyone did as he pleased»
In informal spoken English, plural pronouns are often used with indefinite pronoun antecedents. However, this construction is generally not considered appropriate in formal speech or writing.
- Informal: Somebody should let you borrow their book.
- Formal: Somebody should let you borrow his book.»
- — Choy, Basic Grammar and Usage[66]
In 2015, Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage calls this «the now outmoded use of he to mean ‘anyone‘«,[67] stating:[68]
From the earliest times until about the 1960s it was unquestionably acceptable to use the pronoun he (and him, himself, his) with indefinite reference to denote a person of either sex, especially after indefinite pronouns and determiners such as anybody, … every, etc., after gender-neutral nouns such as person … [but] alternative devices are now usually resorted to. When a gender-neutral pronoun or determiner … is needed, the options usually adopted are the plural forms they, their, themselves, etc., or he or she (his or her, etc.)
In 2016, Garner’s Modern English calls the generic use of masculine pronouns «the traditional view, now widely assailed as sexist».[69]
The rise of gender-neutral languageEdit
The earliest known attempt to create gender-neutral pronouns dates back to 1792, when Scottish economist James Anderson advocated for an indeterminate pronoun «ou».[70]
In 1808, poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge suggested «it» and «which» as neutral pronouns for the word «Person»:[71][72]
In the second half of the 20th century, people expressed more widespread concern at the use of male-oriented language.[73] This included criticism of the use of man as a generic term to include men and women and of the use of he to refer to any human, regardless of sex (social gender).[74]
It was argued that he could not sensibly be used as a generic pronoun understood to include men and women. William Safire in his On Language column in The New York Times approved of the use of generic he, mentioning the mnemonic phrase «the male embraces the female».[75] C. Badendyck from Brooklyn wrote to the New York Times in a reply:[76]
The average American needs the small routines of getting ready for work. As he shaves or blow-dries his hair or pulls on his panty-hose, he is easing himself by small stages into the demands of the day.
By 1980, the movement toward gender-neutral language had gained wide support, and many organizations, including most publishers, had issued guidelines on the use of gender-neutral language,[73] but stopped short of recommending they to be third-person singular with a non-indeterminate, singular antecedent.[citation needed]
Contemporary usageEdit
The use of masculine generic nouns and pronouns in written and spoken language has decreased since the 1970s.[77]
In a corpus of spontaneous speech collected in Australia in the 1990s, singular they had become the most frequently used generic pronoun (rather than generic he or he or she).[77] Similarly, a study from 2002 looking at a corpus of American and British newspapers showed a preference for they to be used as a singular epicene pronoun.[78]
The increased use of singular they may owe in part to an increasing desire for gender-neutral language. A solution in formal writing has often been to write «he or she», or something similar, but this is often considered awkward or overly politically correct, particularly when used excessively.[79][80] In 2016, the journal American Speech published a study by Darren K. LaScotte investigating the pronouns used by native English speakers in informal written responses to questions concerning a subject of unspecified gender, finding that 68% of study participants chose singular they to refer to such an antecedent. Some participants noted that they found constructions such as «he or she» inadequate as they do not include people who identify as neither male nor female.[81]
They in this context was named Word of the Year for 2019 by Merriam-Webster[15][16][17] and for 2015 by the American Dialect Society.[14] On January 4, 2020, the American Dialect Society announced they had crowned they, again in this context, Word of the Decade for the 2010s.[18]
Use with a pronoun antecedentEdit
The singular antecedent can be a pronoun such as someone, anybody, or everybody, or an interrogative pronoun such as who:
- With somebody or someone:
- «I feel that if someone is not doing their job it should be called to their attention.» — an American newspaper (1984); quoted by Fowler.[82]
- With anybody or anyone:
- «If anyone tells you that America’s best days are behind her, then they‘re looking the wrong way.» President George Bush, 1991 State of the Union Address;[83] quoted by Garner[84]
- «Anyone can set themselves up as an acupuncturist.» — Sarah Lonsdale «Sharp Practice Pricks Reputation of Acupuncture». Observer 15 December 1991, as cited by Garner[84]
- «If anybody calls, take their name and ask them to call again later.» Example given by Swan[1]
- «It will be illegal for anyone to donate an organ to their wife, husband, adopted child, adopted parent or close friend.» [85][a]
- With nobody or no one:
- «No one put their hand up.» Example given by Huddleston et al.[86]
- «No one felt they had been misled.» Example given by Huddleston et al.[3]
- With an interrogative pronoun as antecedent:
- «Who thinks they can solve the problem?». Example given by Huddleston et al.; The Cambridge Grammar of the English language.[87]
- With everybody, everyone, etc.:
- «Everyone promised to behave themselves.» Example given by Huddleston et al.[3]
Notional plurality or pairwise relationshipsEdit
Although the pronouns everybody, everyone, nobody, and no one are singular in form and are used with a singular verb, these pronouns have an «implied plurality» that is somewhat similar to the implied plurality of collective or group nouns such as crowd or team,[b] and in some sentences where the antecedent is one of these «implied plural» pronouns, the word they cannot be replaced by generic he,[89] suggesting a «notional plural» rather than a «bound variable» interpretation (see § Grammatical and logical analysis, below). This is in contrast to sentences that involve multiple pairwise relationships and singular they, such as:
- «Everyone loves their mother.»[90]
- «‘I never did get into that football thing’, she said after everyone returned to their seat.»[91]
- «Everyone doubts themselves/themself at one time or another.»
There are examples where the antecedent pronoun (such as everyone) may refer to a collective, with no necessary implication of pairwise relationships. These are examples of plural they:
- «At first everyone in the room was singing; then they began to laugh.» Example given by Kolln.[89]
- «Everybody was crouched behind the furniture to surprise me, and they tried to. But I already knew they were there.» Example given by Garner.[92]
- «Nobody was late, were they?» Example given by Swan.[1]
Which are apparent because they do not work with a generic he or he or she:
- «At first everyone in the room was singing; then he or she began to laugh.» Example given by Kolln.[89]
- «Everybody was crouched behind the furniture to surprise me, and he tried to. But I already knew he was there.»
- «Nobody was late, was he?»
In addition, for these «notional plural» cases, it would not be appropriate to use themself instead of themselves as in:
- «Everybody was crouched behind the furniture to surprise me, but they instead surprised themself.»
Use with a generic noun as antecedentEdit
The singular antecedent can also be a noun such as person, patient, or student:
- With a noun (e.g. person, student, patient) used generically (e.g. in the sense of any member of that class or a specific member unknown to the speaker or writer)
- «cognitive dissonance: «a concept in psychology [that] describes the condition in which a person’s attitudes conflict with their behaviour». — Macmillan Dictionary of Business and Management (1988), as cited by Garner.[84]
- «A starting point would be to give more support to the company secretary. They are, or should be, privy to the confidential deliberations and secrets of the board and the company. — Ronald Severn. «Protecting the Secretary Bird». Financial Times, 6 January 1992; quoted by Garner.[84]
- With representatives of a class previously referred to in the singular
- «I had to decide: Is this person being irrational or is he right? Of course, they were often right.» — Robert Burchfield in U.S. News & World Report 11 August 1986, as cited in Merriam-Webster’s Concise Dictionary of English Usage[64]
Even when referring to a class of persons of known sex, they is sometimes used:[93]
- «I swear more when I’m talking to a boy, because I’m not afraid of shocking them«. From an interview.[1]
- «No mother should be forced to testify against their child».
They may also be used with antecedents of mixed genders:
- «Let me know if your father or your mother changes their mind.» Example given by Huddleston et al.[3]
- «Either the husband or the wife has perjured themself.» Here themself might be acceptable to some, themselves seems less acceptable, and himself is unacceptable. Example given by Huddleston et al.[3]
Even for a definite known person of known sex, they may be used in order to ignore or conceal the sex.
- «I had a friend in Paris, and they had to go to hospital for a month.» (definite person, not identified)[1]
The word themself is also sometimes used when the antecedent is known or believed to be a single person:
- «Someone has apparently locked themself in the office.»[acceptability questionable][3]
Use for specific, known people, including non-binary peopleEdit
Known individuals may be referred to as they if the individual’s gender is unknown to the speaker.[94][95]
A known individual may also be referred to as they if the individual is non-binary or genderqueer and considers they and derivatives as appropriate pronouns.[94][95] Several social media applications permit account holders to choose to identify their gender using one of a variety of non-binary or genderqueer options,[96] such as genderfluid, agender, or bigender, and to designate pronouns, including they/them, which they wish to be used when referring to them.[97] Explicitly designating one’s pronouns as they/them increases the chance that people will interpret «they» as singular.[98] Though «singular they» has long been used with antecedents such as everybody or generic persons of unknown gender, this use, which may be chosen by an individual, is recent.[99] The earliest recorded usage of this sense documented by the Oxford English Dictionary is in a tweet from 2009;[100][101] the journal American Speech documents an example from 2008 in an article in the journal Women’s Studies Quarterly.[102] As of 2020, singular they is the most popular pronoun set used by non-binary people. Approximately 80% consider it appropriate for themselves.[103][104]
The singular they in the meaning «gender-neutral singular pronoun for a known person, as a non-binary identifier»[105] was chosen by the American Dialect Society as their «Word of the Year» for 2015.[99] In 2016, the American Dialect Society wrote:
«While editors have increasingly moved to accepting singular they when used in a generic fashion, voters in the Word of the Year proceedings singled out its newer usage as an identifier for someone who may identify as non-binary in gender terms.»[106]
The vote followed the previous year’s approval of this use by The Washington Post style guide, when Bill Walsh, the Post‘s copy editor, said that the singular they is «the only sensible solution to English’s lack of a gender-neutral third-person singular personal pronoun».[107]
In 2019, the non-binary they was added to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary.[108][109][110]
The first non-binary main character on North American television appeared on the Showtime drama series Billions in 2017, with Asia Kate Dillon playing Taylor Mason.[111][112] Both actor and character use singular they.
Acceptability and prescriptive guidanceEdit
Though both generic he and generic they have long histories of use, and both are still used, both are also systematically avoided by particular groups.[113]
Style guides that avoid expressing a preference for either approach sometimes recommend recasting a problem sentence, for instance replacing generic expressions with plurals to avoid the criticisms of either party.
The use of singular they may be more accepted in British English than in American English,[114] or vice versa.[115]
Usage guidance in American style guidesEdit
Garner’s Modern American UsageEdit
Garner’s Modern American Usage (2nd ed., 2003) recommends cautious use of singular they, and avoidance where possible because its use is stigmatized.
- «Where noun–pronoun disagreement can be avoided, avoid it. Where it can’t be avoided, resort to it cautiously because some people will doubt your literacy …»[116]
Garner suggests that use of singular they is more acceptable in British English:
- «Speakers of AmE resist this development more than speakers of BrE, in which the indeterminate they is already more or less standard.»[114]
and apparently regrets the resistance by the American language community:
- «That it sets many literate Americans’ teeth on edge is an unfortunate obstacle to what promises to be the ultimate solution to the problem.»[114]
He regards the trend toward using singular they with antecedents like everybody, anyone and somebody as inevitable:
- «Disturbing though these developments may be to purists, they’re irreversible. And nothing that a grammarian says will change them.»[117]
The Chicago Manual of StyleEdit
In the 14th edition (1993) of The Chicago Manual of Style, the University of Chicago Press explicitly recommended using singular they and their, noting a «revival» of this usage and citing «its venerable use by such writers as Addison, Austen, Chesterfield, Fielding, Ruskin, Scott, and Shakespeare.»[118]
From the 15th edition (2003), this was changed. In Chapter 5 of the 17th edition (2017), now written by Bryan A. Garner, the recommendations are:[119]
Normally, a singular antecedent requires a singular pronoun. But because he is no longer universally accepted as a generic pronoun referring to a person of unspecified gender, people commonly (in speech and in informal writing) substitute the third-person-plural pronouns they, them, their, and themselves (or the nonstandard singular themself). While this usage is accepted in those spheres, it is only lately showing signs of gaining acceptance in formal writing, where Chicago recommends avoiding its use. When referring specifically to a person who does not identify with a gender-specific pronoun, however, they and its forms are often preferred.
The American Heritage Book of English Usage (1996)Edit
According to The American Heritage Book of English Usage and its usage panel of selected writers, journalism professors, linguists, and other experts, many Americans avoid use of they to refer to a singular antecedent out of respect for a «traditional» grammatical rule, despite use of singular they by modern writers of note and mainstream publications:[120]
Most of the Usage Panel rejects the use of they with singular antecedents as ungrammatical, even in informal speech. Eighty-two percent find the sentence The typical student in the program takes about six years to complete their course work unacceptable … panel members seem to make a distinction between singular nouns, such as the typical student and a person, and pronouns that are grammatically singular but semantically plural, such as anyone, everyone and no one. Sixty-four percent of panel members accept the sentence No one is willing to work for those wages anymore, are they?
Publication Manual of the American Psychological AssociationEdit
The 7th edition of the American Psychological Association’s Publication Manual, released in October 2019, advises using singular «they» when gender is unknown or irrelevant, and gives the following example:[121]
For instance, rather than writing «I don’t know who wrote this note, but he or she has good handwriting,» you might write something like «I don’t know who wrote this note, but they have good handwriting.»
APA style also endorses using they/them if it is someone’s (for example, a non-binary person’s) preferred pronoun set.[122]
Strunk & White’s The Elements of StyleEdit
William Strunk Jr. & E. B. White, the original authors of The Elements of Style, found use of they with a singular antecedent unacceptable and advised use of the singular pronoun (he). In the 3rd edition (1979), the recommendation was still:[123]
They. Not to be used when the antecedent is a distributive expression, such as each, each one. everybody, every one, many a man. Use the singular pronoun. … A similar fault is the use of the plural pronoun with the antecedent anybody, anyone, somebody, someone ….
The assessment, in 1979, was:[123]
The use of he as pronoun for nouns embracing both genders is a simple, practical convention rooted in the beginnings of the English language. He has lost all suggestion of maleness in these circumstances. … It has no pejorative connotation; it is never incorrect.
In the 4th edition (2000), use of singular they was still proscribed against, but use of generic he was no longer recommended.[124]
Joseph M. Williams’s The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2009)Edit
Joseph M. Williams, who wrote a number of books on writing with «clarity and grace», discusses the advantages and disadvantages of various solutions when faced with the problem of referring to an antecedent such as someone, everyone, no one or a noun that does not indicate gender and suggests that this will continue to be a problem for some time. He «suspect[s] that eventually we will accept the plural they as a correct singular» but states that currently «formal usage requires a singular pronoun».[125]
The Little, Brown Handbook (1992)Edit
According to The Little, Brown Handbook, most experts – and some teachers and employers – find use of singular they unacceptable:
Although some experts accept they, them, and their with singular indefinite words, most do not, and many teachers and employers regard the plural as incorrect. To be safe, work for agreement between singular indefinite words and the pronouns that refer to them ….
It recommends using he or she or avoiding the problem by rewriting the sentence to use a plural or omit the pronoun.[126]
Purdue Online Writing LabEdit
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) states that «grammar shifts and changes over time», that the use of singular they is acceptable,[127] and that singular «they» as a replacement for «he» or «she» is more inclusive:
When individuals whose gender is neither male nor female (e.g. nonbinary, agender, genderfluid, etc.) use the singular they to refer to themselves, they are using the language to express their identities. Adopting this language is one way writers can be inclusive of a range of people and identities.
— Purdue Writing Lab
The Washington PostEdit
The Washington Post’s stylebook, as of 2015, recommends trying to «write around the problem, perhaps by changing singulars to plurals, before using the singular they as a last resort» and specifically permits use of they for a «gender-nonconforming person».[94]
Associated Press StylebookEdit
The Associated Press Stylebook, as of 2017, recommends: «They/them/their is acceptable in limited cases as a singular and-or gender-neutral pronoun, when alternative wording is overly awkward or clumsy. However, rewording usually is possible and always is preferable.»[128]
The Handbook of Nonsexist WritingEdit
In The Handbook of Nonsexist Writing, Casey Miller and Kate Swift accept or recommend singular uses of they in cases where there is an element of semantic plurality expressed by a word such as «everyone» or where an indeterminate person is referred to, citing examples of such usage in formal speech.[129] They also suggest rewriting sentences to use a plural they, eliminating pronouns, or recasting sentences to use «one» or (for babies) «it».[130]
Usage guidance in British style guidesEdit
In the first edition of A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (published in 1926) use of the generic he is recommended.[131] It is stated that singular they is disapproved of by grammarians. Numerous examples of its use by eminent writers in the past are given, but it is stated that «few good modern writers would flout [grammarians] so conspicuously as Fielding and Thackeray», whose sentences are described as having an «old-fashioned sound».[132]
The second edition, Fowler’s Modern English Usage (edited by Sir Ernest Gowers and published in 1965) continues to recommend use of the generic he; use of the singular they is called «the popular solution», which «sets the literary man’s teeth on edge».[133] It is stated that singular they is still disapproved of by grammarians but common in colloquial speech.[134]
According to the third edition, The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage (edited by Robert Burchfield and published in 1996) singular they has not only been widely used by good writers for centuries, but is now generally accepted, except by some conservative grammarians, including the Fowler of 1926, who, it is argued, ignored the evidence:
Over the centuries, writers of standing have used they, their, and them with anaphoric reference to a singular noun or pronoun, and the practice has continued in the 20C. to the point that, traditional grammarians aside, such constructions are hardly noticed any more or are not widely felt to lie in a prohibited zone. Fowler (1926) disliked the practice … and gave a number of unattributed «faulty’ examples … The evidence presented in the OED points in another direction altogether.[135]
The Complete Plain Words was originally written in 1948 by Ernest Gowers, a civil servant, in an attempt by the British civil service to improve «official English». A second edition, edited by Sir Bruce Fraser, was published in 1973. It refers to they or them as the «equivalent of a singular pronoun of common sex» as «common in speech and not unknown in serious writing » but «stigmatized by grammarians as usage grammatically indefensible. The book’s advice for «official writers» (civil servants) is to avoid its use and not to be tempted by its «greater convenience», though «necessity may eventually force it into the category of accepted idiom».[136]
A new edition of Plain Words, revised and updated by Gowers’s great-granddaughter, Rebecca Gowers, was published in 2014.
It notes that singular they and them have become much more widespread since Gowers’ original comments, but still finds it «safer» to treat a sentence like ‘The reader may toss their book aside’ as incorrect «in formal English», while rejecting even more strongly sentences like
- «There must be opportunity for the individual boy or girl to go as far as his keenness and ability will take him.»[137]
The Times Style and Usage Guide (first published in 2003 by The Times of London) recommends avoiding sentences like
- «If someone loves animals, they should protect them.»
by using a plural construction:
- «If people love animals, they should protect them.»
The Cambridge Guide to English Usage (2004, Cambridge University Press) finds singular they «unremarkable»:
For those listening or reading, it has become unremarkable – an element of common usage.[138]
It expresses several preferences.
- «Generic/universal their provides a gender-free pronoun, avoiding the exclusive his and the clumsy his/her. It avoids gratuitous sexism and gives the statement broadest reference … They, them, their are now freely used in agreement with singular indefinite pronouns and determiners, those with universal implications such as any(one), every(one), no(one), as well as each and some(one), whose reference is often more individual …»[138]
The Economist Style Guide refers to the use of they in sentences like
- «We can’t afford to squander anyone’s talents, whatever colour their skin is.»
as «scrambled syntax that people adopt because they cannot bring themselves to use a singular pronoun».[139]
New Hart’s Rules (Oxford University Press, 2012) is aimed at those engaged in copy editing, and the emphasis is on the formal elements of presentation including punctuation and typeface, rather than on linguistic style, although – like The Chicago Manual of Style – it makes occasional forays into matters of usage. It advises against use of the purportedly gender-neutral he, and suggests cautious use of they where he or she presents problems.
… it is now regarded … as old-fashioned or sexist to use he in reference to a person of unspecified sex, as in every child needs to know that he is loved. The alternative he or she is often preferred, and in formal contexts probably the best solution, but can become tiresome or long-winded when used frequently. Use of they in this sense (everyone needs to feel that they matter) is becoming generally accepted both in speech and in writing, especially where it occurs after an indefinite pronoun such as everyone or someone, but should not be imposed by an editor if an author has used he or she consistently.[140]
The 2011 edition of the New International Version Bible uses singular they instead of the traditional he when translating pronouns that apply to both genders in the original Greek or Hebrew. This decision was based on research by a commission that studied modern English usage and determined that singular they (them/their) was by far the most common way that English-language speakers and writers today refer back to singular antecedents such as whoever, anyone, somebody, a person, no one, and the like.»[141]
The British edition of The Handbook of Nonsexist Writing, modified in some respects from the original US edition to conform to differences in culture and vocabulary, preserved the same recommendations, allowing singular they with semantically plural terms like «everyone» and indeterminate ones like «person», but recommending a rewrite to avoid.[130]
Australian usage guidanceEdit
The Australian Federation Press Style Guide for Use in Preparation of Book Manuscripts recommends «gender-neutral language should be used», stating that use of they and their as singular pronouns is acceptable.[142]
Usage guidance in English grammarsEdit
According to A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (1985):[115]
The pronoun they is commonly used as a 3rd person singular pronoun that is neutral between masculine and feminine … At one time restricted to informal usage. it is now increasingly accepted in formal usage, especially in [American English].
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language discusses the prescriptivist argument that they is a plural pronoun and that the use of they with a singular «antecedent» therefore violates the rule of agreement between antecedent and pronoun, but takes the view that they, though primarily plural, can also be singular in a secondary extended sense, comparable to the purportedly extended sense of he to include female gender.[25]
Use of singular they is stated to be «particularly common», even «stylistically neutral» with antecedents such as everyone, someone, and no one, but more restricted when referring to common nouns as antecedents, as in
- «The patient should be told at the outset how much they will be required to pay.»[3]
- «A friend of mine has asked me to go over and help them …»[25]
Use of the pronoun themself is described as being «rare» and «acceptable only to a minority of speakers», while use of the morphologically plural themselves is considered problematic when referring to someone rather than everyone (since only the latter implies a plural set).[25]
There are also issues of grammatical acceptability when reflexive pronouns refer to singular noun phrases joined by or, the following all being problematic:
- «Either the husband or the wife has perjured himself.» [ungrammatical]
- «Either the husband or the wife has perjured themselves.» [of questionable grammaticality]
- «Either the husband or the wife has perjured themself.» [typically used by only some speakers of Standard English].[25]
On the motivation for using singular they, A Student’s Introduction to English Grammar states:[143]
this avoidance of he can’t be dismissed just as a matter of political correctness. The real problem with using he is that it unquestionably colours the interpretation, sometimes inappropriately … he doesn’t have a genuinely sex-neutral sense.
The alternative he or she can be «far too cumbersome», as in:
- «Everyone agreed that he or she would bring his or her lunch with him or her.
or even «flatly ungrammatical», as in
- «Everyone’s here, isn’t he or she?[143]
«Among younger speakers», use of singular they even with definite noun-phrase antecedents finds increasing acceptance, «sidestepping any presumption about the sex of the person referred to», as in:
- «You should ask your partner what they think.»
- «The person I was with said they hated the film.» Example given by Huddleston et al.[143]
Grammatical and logical analysisEdit
Notional agreementEdit
Notional agreement is the idea that some uses of they might refer to a grammatically singular antecedent seen as semantically plural:
- «‘Tis meet that some more audience than a mother, since nature makes them partial, should o’erhear the speech.» — Shakespeare, Hamlet (1599);[144] quoted in Merriam-Webster’s Concise Dictionary of English Usage.[57]
- «No man goes to battle to be killed.» … «But they do get killed.» — George Bernard Shaw, quoted in Merriam-Webster’s Concise Dictionary of English Usage[57]
According to notional agreement, in the Shakespeare quotation a mother is syntactically singular, but stands for all mothers;[57] and in the Shaw quotation no man is syntactically singular (taking the singular form goes), but is semantically plural (all go [to kill] not to be killed), hence idiomatically requiring they.[145] Such use, which goes back a long way, includes examples where the sex is known, as in the above examples.[146]
DistributionEdit
Distributive constructions apply a single idea to multiple members of a group.
They are typically marked in English by words like each, every and any. The simplest examples are applied to groups of two, and use words like either and or – «Would you like tea or coffee?». Since distributive constructions apply an idea relevant to each individual in the group, rather than to the group as a whole, they are most often conceived of as singular, and a singular pronoun is used:
- «England expects that every man will do his duty.» — Nelson (1805, referring to a fleet crewed by male sailors)
- «Every dog hath his day.» — John Ray, A Collection of English Proverbs (1670), originally from Plutarch, Moralia, c. 95 AD, regarding the death of Euripides.
However, many languages, including English, show ambivalence in this regard. Because distribution also requires a group with more than one member, plural forms are sometimes used.[c][example needed]
Referential and non-referential anaphorsEdit
The singular they, which uses the same verb form that plurals do, is typically used to refer to an indeterminate antecedent, for example:
- «The person you mentioned, are they coming?»
In some sentences, typically those including words like every or any, the morphologically singular antecedent does not refer to a single entity but is «anaphorically linked» to the associated pronoun to indicate a set of pairwise relationships, as in the sentence:[148]
- «Everyone returned to their seats.» (where each person is associated with one seat)
Linguists like Steven Pinker and Rodney Huddleston explain sentences like this (and others) in terms of bound variables, a term borrowed from logic. Pinker prefers the terms quantifier and bound variable to antecedent and pronoun.[149] He suggests that pronouns used as «variables» in this way are more appropriately regarded as homonyms of the equivalent referential pronouns.[150]
The following shows different types of anaphoric reference, using various pronouns, including they:
- Coreferential, with a definite antecedent (the antecedent and the anaphoric pronoun both refer to the same real-world entity):
-
- «Your wife phoned but she didn’t leave a message.»
- Coreferential with an indefinite antecedent:
-
- «One of your girlfriends phoned, but she didn’t leave a message.»
- «One of your boyfriends phoned, but he didn’t leave a message.»
- «One of your friends phoned, but they didn’t leave a message.»
- Reference to a hypothetical, indefinite entity
-
- «If you had an unemployed daughter, what would you think if she wanted to accept work as a mercenary?»
- «If you had an unemployed child, what would you think if they wanted to accept work as a mercenary?»
- A bound variable pronoun is anaphorically linked to a quantifier (no single real-world or hypothetical entity is referenced; examples and explanations from Huddleston and Pullum, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language[86]):
-
- «No one put their hand up.» [approximately: «There is no person x such that x put x‘s hand up.»]
- «Every car had its windscreen broken.» [approximately: «For every car x, x had x‘s windscreen broken.»]
Cognitive efficiencyEdit
A study of whether «singular they» is more «difficult» to understand than gendered pronouns found that «singular they is a cognitively efficient substitute for generic he or she, particularly when the antecedent is nonreferential» (e.g. anybody, a nurse, or a truck driver) rather than referring to a specific person (e.g. a runner I knew or my nurse). Clauses with singular they were read «just as quickly as clauses containing a gendered pronoun that matched the stereotype of the antecedent» (e.g. she for a nurse and he for a truck driver) and «much more quickly than clauses containing a gendered pronoun that went against the gender stereotype of the antecedent».[151]
On the other hand, when the pronoun they was used to refer to known individuals («referential antecedents, for which the gender was presumably known», e.g. my nurse, that truck driver, a runner I knew), reading was slowed when compared with use of a gendered pronoun consistent with the «stereotypic gender» (e.g. he for a specific truck driver).[151]
The study concluded that «the increased use of singular they is not problematic for the majority of readers».[151]
Comparison with other pronounsEdit
The singular and plural use of they can be compared with the pronoun you, which had been both a plural and polite singular, but by about 1700 replaced thou for singular referents.[138] For «you», the singular reflexive pronoun («yourself») is different from its plural reflexive pronoun («yourselves»); with «they» one can hear either «themself» or «themselves» for the singular reflexive pronoun.
Singular «they» has also been compared to nosism (such as the «royal we»), when a single person uses first-person plural in place of first-person singular pronouns.[152] Similar to singular «you», its singular reflexive pronoun («ourself») is different from the plural reflexive pronoun («ourselves»).
While the pronoun set derived from it is primarily used for inanimate objects, it is frequently used in an impersonal context when someone’s identity is unknown or established on a provisional basis, e.g. «Who is it?» or «With this new haircut, no one knows it is me.»[153] It is also used for infants of unspecified gender but may be considered dehumanizing and is therefore more likely in a clinical context. Otherwise, in more personal contexts, the use of it to refer to a person might indicate antipathy or other negative emotions.[154]
It can also be used for non-human animals of unspecified sex, though they is common for pets and other domesticated animals of unspecified sex, especially when referred to by a proper name[154] (e.g. Rags, Snuggles). Normally, birds and mammals with a known sex are referred to by their respective male or female pronoun (he and she; him and her).
It is uncommon to use singular they instead of it for something other than a life form.[155][failed verification]
See alsoEdit
- English personal pronouns
- Gender neutrality in English
- Notional agreement
- Spivak pronoun
- Third-person pronoun#Historical, regional, and proposed gender-neutral singular pronouns
- Neopronoun
- Gender neutrality in languages with gendered third-person pronouns
NotesEdit
- ^ Article accessible for free using a library card number from many public libraries
- ^ Especially in British English, such collective nouns can be followed by a plural verb and a plural pronoun; in American English such collective nouns are more usually followed by a singular verb and a singular pronoun.[88]
- ^ «Either the plural or the singular may be acceptable for a true bound pronoun …»: «Every student thinks she / they is / are smart.»[147]
ReferencesEdit
- ^ a b c d e Swan 2009, §528.
- ^ a b «they». Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ a b c d e f g h Huddleston & Pullum 2002, p. 493.
- ^ Wales 1996, p. 125.
- ^ Kamm, Oliver (12 December 2015). «The Pedant: The sheer usefulness of singular ‘they’ is obvious». The Times. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ «Singular «They»«. APA Style. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
- ^ Pinker 2014, p. 260.
- ^ Ross & West 2002, p. 180.
- ^ «Singular «They»: Teaching a Changing Language». World of Better Learning. Cambridge University Press. 16 November 2020.
- ^ «Singular They Continues to be the Focus of Language Change». ACES: The Society for Editing.
- ^ «How do I use singular they?». 4 March 2020.
- ^ «Resources for using «they» as a singular pronoun» (PDF). www1.ucdenver.edu. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ «Words We’re Watching: Singular ‘They’«. Merriam-Webster dictionary. 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ a b «2015 Word of the Year is singular «they»«. 9 January 2016.
- ^ a b «Merriam-Webster: Non-binary pronoun ‘they’ is word of year». BBC News. 10 December 2019.
- ^ a b «Merriam-Webster declares ‘they’ its 2019 word of the year». AP NEWS. 10 December 2019.
- ^ a b «Merriam-Webster’s Words of the Year 2019». www.merriam-webster.com.
- ^ a b «Singular ‘they’ crowned word of the decade by US linguists | DW | 04.01.2020». Deutsche Welle.
- ^ «Chicago Style for the Singular They«. cmosshoptalk.com. 3 April 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
Like singular you, singular they is treated as a grammatical plural and takes a plural verb.
- ^ Kruth, Rebecca; Curzan, Ann (16 June 2019). «TWTS: Singular «they» and verb agreement». Michigan Radio. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ «Welcome, singular «they»«. American Psychological Association. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ^ Pullum 2012.
- ^ «Themself». merriam-webster.com.
- ^ «A Note on the Nonbinary ‘They’«.
- ^ a b c d e f Huddleston & Pullum 2002, p. 494.
- ^ Merriam-Webster 2002, p. 731.
- ^ Fowler & Burchfield 1996, p. 777.
- ^ Fowler 2015, pp. 811–812.
- ^ Hislop 1984, p. 23.
- ^ Fowler & Burchfield 1996, p. 776, themself.
- ^ Canadian government 2015.
- ^ Huddleston & Pullum 2002, pp. 493–494.
- ^ American Heritage Dictionaries 1996, p. 178.
- ^ «they». The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins.
- ^ Fowler 2015, p. 814.
- ^ Bodine 1975, pp. 129–146.
- ^ Gerner 2000, pp. 111–112.
- ^ a b Fowler & Burchfield 1996, p. 358.
- ^ Cable 1879.
- ^ Baskervill & Sewell 1895, §409.
- ^ Thackeray 1869, p. 189.
- ^ Baskervill & Sewell 1895, §410.
- ^ Fisher 1750, p. 106 in 1780 printing.
- ^ Ostade 2000.
- ^ a b Bodine 1975, p. 133.
- ^ Miller & Swift 1995, p. 46.
- ^ Warenda 1993, p. 101.
- ^ Byron 1823, p. vi.
- ^ a b Baskervill & Sewell 1895, §411.
- ^ Austen 1814, p. 195.
- ^ Wilson 1560, p. 167.
- ^ Wilson 1560, p. 208.
- ^ Poole 1646, p. 21.
- ^ Bodine 1975, p. 134.
- ^ Leonard 1929, p. 225.
- ^ Bodine 1975, p. 131.
- ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster 2002, p. 735.
- ^ Fries 1969, p. 215.
- ^ Lash 1981, p. 454.
- ^ Weiss, Kaplan & Fair 2004, p. 147.
- ^ Atkinson 2008.
- ^ Spillius 2008.
- ^ Barzun 1985.
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster 2002, p. 734.
- ^ Huddleston & Pullum 2002, p. 492.
- ^ a b Choy & Clark 2010, p. 213.
- ^ Fowler 2015, p. 367.
- ^ Fowler 2015, p. 372.
- ^ Garner 2016, p. 460.
- ^ Barron, Dennis. «The Words that Failed: A chronology of early nonbinary pronouns». Illinois Department of English. University of Illinois. Archived from the original on 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
- ^ Coleridge 1895, p. 190.
- ^ Macdonald, Fiona (23 June 2016). «The ultimate 21st-Century word?». BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
- ^ a b Miller & Swift 1995, pp. 1–9.
- ^ Miller & Swift 1995, pp. 11–61.
- ^ Safire 1985, pp. 46–47.
- ^ Badendyck 1985.
- ^ a b Pauwels 2003, pp. 563–564.
- ^ Baranowski, Maciej (2002). «Current usage of the epicene pronoun in written English». Journal of Sociolinguistics. 6 (3): 378–397. doi:10.1111/1467-9481.00193.
- ^ Matossian 1997.
- ^ Balhorn, Mark (2009). «The epicene pronoun in contemporary newspaper prose». American Speech. 84 (4): 391–413. doi:10.1215/00031283-2009-031.
- ^ LaScotte, Darren K. (1 February 2016). «Singular they: An Empirical Study of Generic Pronoun Use». American Speech. 91 (1): 62–80. doi:10.1215/00031283-3509469. ISSN 0003-1283.
- ^ Fowler & Burchfield 1996, p. 776.
- ^ Bush 1991, p. 101.
- ^ a b c d Garner 2003, p. 175.
- ^ Ballantyne, Aileen (25 March 1990). «Transplant Jury to Vet Live Donors». The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
- ^ a b Huddleston & Pullum 2002, p. 1458.
- ^ Huddleston & Pullum 2002, p. 1473.
- ^ Fowler 2015, p. 161.
- ^ a b c Kolln 1986, pp. 100–102.
- ^ Duží, Jespersen & Materna 2010, p. 334.
- ^ Davids 2010.
- ^ Garner 2003, p. 643.
- ^ Newman 1998.
- ^ a b c Walsh 2015.
- ^ a b Teich 2012, p. 12.
- ^ Weber, Peter (21 February 2014). «Confused by All the New Facebook Genders? Here’s What They Mean». Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ^ CNN 2014.
- ^ Arnold, Jennifer E.; Mayo, Heather; Dong, Lisa (2021). «My pronouns are they/them: Talking about pronouns changes how pronouns are understood». Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. 28 (5): 1688–1697. doi:10.3758/s13423-021-01905-0. PMC 8094985. PMID 33945124.
- ^ a b Abadi 2016.
- ^ «they». Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. June 2021. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ @thebutchcaucus (11 July 2009). «RT @pieskiis: @FireboltX What about they/them/theirs? #genderqueer #pronouns» (Tweet). Archived from the original on 10 October 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ Zimmer, Ben; Solomon, Jane; Carson, Charles E. (2016). «Among the New Words». American Speech. 91 (2): 200–225. doi:10.1215/00031283-3633118.
- ^ «Gender Census 2020: Worldwide Report». Gender Census. 7 November 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
- ^ Hekanaho, Laura (8 December 2020). Generic and Nonbinary Pronouns: Usage, Acceptability and Attitudes (PDF) (PhD). University of Helsinki. p. 221. ISBN 9789515168313. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
- ^ Steinmetz 2016.
- ^ American Dialect Society 2016.
- ^ Guo 2016.
- ^ «they». Merriam-Webster.
- ^ «Merriam-Webster adds nonbinary ‘they’ pronoun to dictionary». NBC News. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
- ^ Trammell, Kendall (18 September 2019). «Merriam-Webster adds the nonbinary pronoun ‘they’ to its dictionary». CNN. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
- ^ Hibberd, James (19 February 2017). «‘Billions’ Premiere Introduces TV’s First Gender Non-Binary Character». Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
- ^ Masters, Jeffrey (13 April 2017). «Asia Kate Dillon Talks Discovering the Word Non-Binary: ‘I Cried’«. Huffington Post. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
- ^ Chicago 2017, §5.252.
- ^ a b c Garner 2003, p. 718.
- ^ a b Quirk et al. 1985, p. 770.
- ^ Garner 2003, p. 174.
- ^ Garner 2003, pp. 643–644.
- ^ Chicago 1993, pp. 76–77.
- ^ Chicago 2017, §5.48.
- ^ American Heritage Dictionaries 1996, pp. 178–179.
- ^ «Changes in the 7th Edition». Purdue Online Writing Lab.
- ^ Chelsea Lee. «The Use of Singular «They» in APA Style».
- ^ a b Strunk & White 1979, p. 60.
- ^ Strunk & White 2000, p. 60.
- ^ Williams 2008, pp. 23–25.
- ^ Fowler & Aaron 1992, p. 354.
- ^ «Gendered Pronouns & Singular «They»«. Purdue Writing Lab. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ Easton, Lauren (24 March 2017). «Making a case for a singular ‘they’«. AP Definitive Source. Associated Press. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ Miller & Swift 1995, p. 50.
- ^ a b Miller & Swift 1995, pp. 57–58.
- ^ Fowler & Crystal 1926, p. 392.
- ^ Fowler & Crystal 1926, p. 648.
- ^ Fowler & Crystal 1926, p. 404.
- ^ Fowler & Gowers 1965, p. 635.
- ^ Fowler & Burchfield 1996, p. 779.
- ^ Gowers & Fraser 1973, p. 140.
- ^ Gowers & Gowers 2014, pp. 210–213.
- ^ a b c Peters 2004, p. 538.
- ^ Economist 2010, p. 117.
- ^ New Hart’s Rules 2012, p. 27.
- ^ Washington Post 2011.
- ^ Federation Press 2014.
- ^ a b c Huddleston & Pullum 2005, p. 104.
- ^ Shakespeare 1599, p. 105.
- ^ Merriam-Webster 2002, p. 736.
- ^ Merriam-Webster 2002, pp. 735–736.
- ^ Huang 2009, p. 144.
- ^ Huddleston & Pullum 2002, pp. 1457–1458.
- ^ Pinker 1995, p. 378.
- ^ Pinker 1995, p. 379.
- ^ a b c Foertsch & Gernsbacher 1997.
- ^ Collins & Postal 2012, p. [page needed].
- ^ «It is I vs. It is me». Thesaurus.com. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ a b Huddleston & Pullum 2002, pp. 488–489.
- ^ «Welcome, singular «they»«. apastyle.apa.org. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
SourcesEdit
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- Barzun, Jacques (1985). Simple and Direct. Harper and Row.
- Cuellar, Jessica (2008). A Study of Presidential State of the Union Addresses: The Sells and Arguments that are Used. Oklahoma State University. ISBN 978-0-549-99288-2.
- Byron, Baron George Gordon (1823). Werner, a Tragedy. A. and W. Galignani – via Internet Archive.
- Cable, George Washington (1907) [1879]. Old Creole Days.
- «Canadian War Veterans Allowance Act (1985) as amended 12 December 2013» (PDF). Government of Canada. 12 December 2013. R.S.C., 1985, c. W-3. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
- «Immigration and RefugeeProtection Regulations (2002) as amended 6 February 2014» (PDF). Government of Canada. 6 February 2014. SOR/2002-227. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
- «Themself or Themselves?». Government of Canada. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
Use themselves as the reflexive/intensive pronoun to refer to an indefinite gender-neutral noun or pronoun that is the subject of the sentence and avoid themself.
- Caxton, William (1884) [c. 1489]. Richardson, Octavia (ed.). The right plesaunt and goodly historie of the foure sonnes of Aymon. Early English Text Society. pp. 38f. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
- Chaucer, Geoffrey (2008) [1395]. «The Pardoner’s Prologue». In Benson, Larry Dean (ed.). The Riverside Chaucer. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-55209-2.
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- Coleridge, Samuel (1895). Coleridge, Ernest (ed.). Anima Poetæ: From the Unpublished Note-books of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. London, England: William Heinemann.
- Collins, Chris; Postal, Paul Martin (2012). Imposters: A Study of Pronominal Agreement. ISBN 978-0262016889.
- Davids (2010). Prodigal Daughter. Steeple Hill. ISBN 978-1-426-88577-8.
- Defoe, Daniel (1816). The Family Instructor. Brightly and Childs.
- Fries, Joseph P. (1969) [1940]. «The inflections and syntax of present-day American English with especial reference to social differences or class dialects: The report of an investigation financed by the National Council of Teachers of English and supported by the Modern Language Association and the Linguistic Society of America». In Bolton, W. F.; Crystal (eds.). The English Language, Volume 2: Essays by Linguistics and Men of Letters 1858–1964. Cambridge University Press Archive. ISBN 978-0-451-14076-0.
- Hickey, Shane (10 January 2015). «The innovators: the app promising the perfect-fitting bra». The Guardian.
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- Lash, Joseph P. (1981) [1971]. Eleanor and Franklin. Penguin Group Canada. ISBN 978-0-451-14076-0.; quoted in Reader’s Digest, 1983, as an example of its awkwardness when referring to both sexes.
- Paley, William; Paley, Edmund; Paxton, James (1825). The Works of William Paley: The principles of moral and political philosophy. C. and J. Rivington and J. Nunn.
- Ruskin, John (1873) [1866]. The Works of John Ruskin: The Crown of Wild Olive. George Allen.
- Shakespeare, W.; Loffelt, Antonie Cornelis (1867). Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. J. L. Beijers en J. van Boekhoven.
- Spillius, Alex (12 May 2008). «US elections: Hillary Clinton ‘about to drop out’«. The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022.
- Thackeray, William Makepeace (1868). The Works of William Makepeace Thackeray: in 22 Volumes: Vanity fair. Vol. 2. Smith, Elder.
- Thackeray, William Makepeace (1869). «On Lett’s Diary». The Works of William Makepeace Thackeray. Vol. 20. Smith, Elder.
- Weiss, R. E.; Kaplan, S. A.; Fair, W. R. (2004). Management of Prostate Diseases. Cambridge; New York: Professional Communications Inc. ISBN 978-1-884-73595-0.
BibliographyEdit
- Abadi, Mark (8 January 2016). «‘They’ was just named 2015’s Word of the Year». Business Insider. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- The American Heritage Book of English Usage: A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1996. ISBN 978-0-547-56321-3.
- «2015 Word of the Year is singular they» (Press release). American Dialect Society. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). American Psychological Association. 2001. ISBN 1-55798-790-4.
- Badendyck, C. (7 July 1985). «[Letter commenting on] Hypersexism And the Feds». The New York Times. As quoted by Miller and Swift.
- Baskervill, W. M.; Sewell, J. W. (1895). An English Grammar. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- Berry, Chris; Brizee, Allen. «Using Pronouns Clearly». Retrieved 2 August 2014.
- Bodine, Ann (August 1975). «Androcentrism in Prescriptive Grammar: Singular They, Sex-Indefinite He, and He or She» (PDF). Language in Society. Cambridge University Press. 4 (2): 129–146. doi:10.1017/s0047404500004607. ISSN 0047-4045. JSTOR 4166805. S2CID 146362006.
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- The Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.). University of Chicago Press. 2017. ISBN 9780226287058.
- Choy, Penelope; Clark, Dorothy Goldbart (2010). Basic Grammar and Usage (8th ed.). Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-1-428-21155-1.
- Griggs, Brandon (13 February 2014). «Facebook goes beyond ‘male’ and ‘female’ with new gender options». CNN.
- Curzan, Anne (2003). Gender Shifts in the History of English. Studies in English Language. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-43668-7.
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- «Federation Press Style Guide for Use in Preparation of Book Manuscripts» (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- Fisher, Ann (1750) [1745]. A New Grammar: Being the Most Easy Guide to Speaking and Writing the English Language Properly and Correctly (reprinted in facsimile) (2nd ed.). Scolar Press (published 1974).
- Fowler, Henry Ramsey; Aaron, Jane E. (1992). The Little, Brown Handbook (5th ed.). HarperCollins. pp. 300–301. ISBN 978-0-673-52132-3.. N.B.: This is not the English usage authority Henry Watson Fowler.
- Fowler, H. W.; Crystal, David (2009) [1926]. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-58589-2.
- Fowler, H. W.; Gowers, Sir Ernest (1965). A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press.
- Fowler, H. W.; Burchfield, R. W. (1996). The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-198-61021-2.
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- Foertsch, Julie; Gernsbacher, Morton Ann (March 1997). «In Search of Gender Neutrality: Is Singular They a Cognitively Efficient Substitute for Generic He?» (PDF). Psychological Science. 8 (2): 106–111. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1997.tb00691.x. PMC 4293036. PMID 25593408. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 May 2015.
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- Gowers, Ernest; Gowers, Rebecca (2014). Plain Words. London: Particular. ISBN 978-0-241-96035-6.
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- Liberman, Mark (11 January 2015). «Annals of singular «they»«. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
- Matossian, Lou Ann (1997). Burglars, Babysitters, and Persons: A Sociolinguistic Study of Generic Pronoun Usage in Philadelphia and Minneapolis (PDF). Institute for Research in Cognitive Science. University of Pennsylvania Press. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2006.
- Merriam-Webster’s Concise Dictionary of English Usage. Penguin. 2002. ISBN 9780877796336.
- Miller, Casey; Swift, Kate (1995) [1981]. Mosse, Kate (ed.). The Handbook of Non-Sexist Writing for Writers, Editors and Speakers (3rd British ed.). The Women’s Press. ISBN 978-07043-44426.
- «New Hart’s Rules». New Oxford Style Manual. Oxford University Press. 2012. ISBN 978-0-199-65722-3.
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- Paterson, Laura Louise (2014). British Pronoun Use, Prescription, and Processing: Linguistic and Social Influences Affecting ‘They’ and ‘He’. Palgrave Macmillan.
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… our pronoun they was originally borrowed into English from the Scandinavian language family … and since then has been doing useful service in English as the morphosyntactically plural but singular-antecedent-permitting gender-neutral pronoun known to linguists as singular they.
- Quirk, Randolph; Greenbaum, Sidney; Leech, Geoffrey; Svartvik, Jan (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Harlow: Longman. ISBN 978-0-582-51734-9.
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- Teich, Nicholas M. (2012). Transgender 101: A Simple Guide to a Complex Issue. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-15712-4.
- Wales, Katie (1996). Personal Pronouns in Present-Day English. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521471022.
- Walsh, Bill (4 December 2015). «The Post drops the ‘mike’ – and the hyphen in ‘e-mail’«. The Washington Post.
- Warenda, Amy (April 1993). «They» (PDF). The WAC Journal. 4: 99–107. doi:10.37514/WAC-J.1993.4.1.09. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
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- Wilson, Thomas (1560). Mair, George Herbert (ed.). The Arte of Rhetorique. Clarendon (published 1909). Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
- Wolfram, Walt; Schilling, Natalie (2016). American English: Dialects and Variation (3rd ed.). Wiley Blackwell. ISBN 9781118391457.
Further readingEdit
- Amia Srinivasan, «He, She, One, They, Ho, Hus, Hum, Ita» (review of Dennis Baron, What’s Your Pronoun? Beyond He and She, Liveright, 2020, ISBN 978 1 63149 6042, 304 pp.), London Review of Books, vol. 42, no. 13 (2 July 2020), pp. 34–39. Prof. Srinivasan writes (p. 39): «People use non-standard pronouns, or use pronouns in non-standard ways, for various reasons: to accord with their sense of themselves, to make their passage through the world less painful, to prefigure and hasten the arrival of a world in which divisions of sex no longer matter. So too we can choose to respect people’s pronouns for many reasons.»
External linksEdit
- «Anyone who had a heart (would know their own language)» by Geoff Pullum. Transcript of a radio talk.
- A brief history of singular ‘they’ (OED blog, Dennis Baron)
It’s very common to find ourselves in a situation where we have used the wrong word, whether by accident or because we genuinely weren’t aware of the appropriate term. This happens to everyone on occasion, however, what is it that you’re supposed to call the use of the wrong word?
What Is It Called When You Use The Wrong Word?
There is a particular variety of terms and phrases that can describe the moment or incident when we use the wrong word. For the purposes of this article, we will be taking an in-depth look at the following ten terms in particular:
- Malapropism
- Catachresis
- Miswording
- Typo
- Eggcorn
- Solecism
- Misuse
- Infelicity
- Slip Of The Tongue
- Error
The preferred version that we are going to highlight is “malapropism”. This is because the term “malapropism” is the best and most accurate way of describing the incident when we use the wrong word – whether in speech or written context.
Malapropism
“Malapropism” is both a formal and professional term that we can utilize. Cambridge Dictionary defines “malapropism” as the wrong use of one word instead of another word because they sound similar to each other, with results that are unintentionally funny.
Therefore, a “malapropism” may be an instance of incorrect use of a word, but it’s done so in an innocently amusing way.
Here are a few examples that showcase the use of this term in a sentence:
- I had the funniest malapropism occur today when I was speaking to my dance instructor. I said I wanted to dance the flamingo, as opposed to the flamenco.
- An excellent example of malapropism is; Jesus cured the leopards, instead of saying, Jesus cured the lepers.
- It’s okay if you slip up and have a malapropism moment – you just need to learn from the situation for future use.
Catachresis
Another phenomenally formal and professional alternate term that we can choose to use is “catachresis”. The term “catachresis” is defined as the use of a word in a way that is not at all correct or proper. This makes it an incredibly applicable synonym for “using the wrong word”.
An example of “catachresis” would be to use the word mitigate in place of mediate or meditate.
For additional information on the use of this word, we can go over the following examples:
- The earliest uses of catachresis can be dated back to the mid 16th century, proving that it is a common error.
- Catachresis can be the complete misuse or the strained use of unsuitable words.
- Catachresis is actually classified as being a rhetorical term for the inappropriate use of any word.
Miswording
We can choose to use the term “miswording” as another alternative or synonym. The term “miswording” is defined as being the incorrect use of a word or to word or phrase something incorrectly, in a way that comes off as a lack of understanding or utterly nonsensical.
We can also consider “miswording” as the incorrect expression or pronunciation of the correct word. Despite attempting to use the correct word, this is still considered wrong, as it could confuse or mislead someone.
We will now go over these various examples that include this particular term:
- Her miswording throughout the essay made it so I could barely comprehend what she was meaning to say.
- Miswording to this extent is not an acceptable error in university – I suggest you consider a tutor.
- My boyfriend was miswording and rambling all at the same time, which caused me to believe that he was delirious.
Typo
While using the wrong word often occurs through speech, it can also occur in text as well. Cambridge Dictionary defines a “typo” as a small mistake in a text made when it was typed or printed. Therefore, when a “typo” occurs, it’s often a misspelled or misused word.
A “typo” is a typographical error and because of this, it will generally be autocorrected by a phone or computer, however, this is not always the case. Occasionally, the mistake is left behind or autocorrect to the wrong term, which can cause greater confusion.
The following examples highlight the use of this particular term:
- I had the most embarrassing typo in a text conversation with my father today – I was mortified.
- I hate when autocorrect believes my favourite swear word is a typo and corrects it to “duck”.
- My sister had the funniest typo in our group conversation with our parents – we all had such a laugh over it.
Eggcorn
A very uncommon, but an applicable term that we can use as an alternative is “eggcorn”. Cambridge Dictionary defines the term “eggcorn” is a word or phrase that a person wrongly thinks is another word or phrase that sounds similar. An example of this is using acorn in place of “eggcorn”.
Often, an “eggcorn” occurs because we have misheard or misinterpreted a term previously, which was never corrected. This can occur in both speech and text.
Here are some examples that we can go over for this term:
- An example of an eggcorn is writing tow the line, instead of toe the line.
- My teacher called me out in front of the rest of the class because she said I consistently use eggcorns, but what do nuts have to do with this?
- I didn’t know what an eggcorn was until my professor explained it to me.
Solecism
We can choose to use the term “solecism” very similarly to our other alternate terms that we have gone over. Cambridge Dictionary defines a “solecism” as a grammatical mistake, as well as behaviour that is a social mistake or is not polite.
A “solecism” can occur in person, speech or in writing.
For additional clarity on the use of this term, we can go over these examples:
- I made far too many grammatical solecisms throughout my essay, so my teacher returned my paper to me to redo it.
- Burping in public without immediately saying excuse me is an example of social solecism.
- It’s important to have a vast understanding of a language, as well as a good comprehension of spelling, in order to cut down on the number of solecisms you make.
Misuse
Although the term “misuse” can apply to many situations, it’s certainly applicable for the use of the wrong word or phrase. Cambridge Dictionary defines the term “misuse” as to use something in an unsuitable way or in a way that was not intended.
Because of this, we can consider speaking, writing or typing the incorrect word to be “misuse”.
We can now take a closer look at some examples that use this particular term:
- My teacher is unimpressed with my consistent misuse of the term potency, as opposed to the proper term, which is apparently potential.
- She has a blatant misuse of swear words, in place of the adequate or correct term.
- If you misuse the incorrect term more than five times on our online test, you are automatically given a failing grade.
Infelicity
We can consider “infelicity” to be the inappropriate use of a work, remark or suggestion. This is because Cambridge Dictionary defines “infelicity” as the fact that something is not suitable or correct in a situation. Because of this “infelicities” can often come across as entirely rude or unpleasant.
It’s important to note that an “infelicity” can happen during a conversation either in person, over the phone, through text or even email.
Some examples that we can take a look at, that include this term are:
- There is both an abundance of infelicities and inconsistencies in this book, which leads me to believe that it was plagiarized.
- Rewatching herself on video, she winced as she heard her repeated infelicity and the way she had botched the script.
- A had an infelicity during my presentation in front of my class, which was incredibly embarrassing.
Slip Of The Tongue
Another great alternative that we can use, as well as our only phrase synonym, is a “slip of the tongue”. Cambridge Dictionary defines a “slip of the tongue” as something that you say by accident when you intended to say something else.
Because of this, we can consider a “slip of the tongue” the blurting out of a private secret, this misuse of a phrase and the use of the incorrect word.
Here are various examples that include the use of this specific phrase:
- I had a slip of the tongue in front of my best friend’s parents and accidentally told them that she tried marijuana at a party.
- I called my mother’s new boyfriend by her previous boyfriend’s name and neither was impressed with that slip of the tongue.
- I apologize wholeheartedly for that honest slip of the tongue moment.
Error
The last alternative that we will be going over is “error”. Although the term “error” is another generic term, it is applicable to a situation where we say the wrong word. Often, we consider this to be an “error” in speech, but it can be applied for writing or text as well.
Cambridge Dictionary defines the term “error” as something done or written by accident that is not correct, not accurate, or does not give the right result. We can also consider an “error” to be a generalized mistake.
We will now look over our last few examples for this article, all of which include this term:
- He made an error in his speech but immediately corrected himself in a way that the audience appreciated.
- I’ve made a very crucial error in communication and sent the delivery driver to my old address – I am so sorry!
- She made an error in judgement and assumably called me by my younger sister’s name.
You may also like: 16 Best Replies When Someone Corrects Your Grammar
Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here.
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Last updated:
January 28, 2022
Are You Saying These 12 Words Wrong, Like Most People?
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
—Inigo Montoya, “The Princess Bride”
Many words have clear meanings which are difficult to confuse.
You’ll never use the word “cat” to refer to a “dog,” for example.
But there are other words which are not as simple to use.
As an English learner, you’ve probably come across a few words that you mix up again and again.
Well, we have a secret for you: Even native speakers confuse words!
Just as there are common phrases which people say wrong, there are also some English words which people use incorrectly. We’re going to take a close look at 12 of those words today.
You might be wondering how it’s even possible that native speakers would say these words wrong. So let’s begin by looking at why this is.
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English Words Are Constantly Changing
The way we pronounce, spell and use words is constantly changing.
Take the word “awful,” for example. “Awful” is the combination of the words “awe” (a feeling of inspiration or wonder) and the word “full” (as in, the opposite of “empty”). Something awful used to be something that fills you with awe or wonder. It could also mean something that fills you with fear. Over the years, though, that second definition became the one that stuck. So now the dictionary definition is “very bad or unpleasant.”
Thanks to the internet, the English language is changing even faster than ever. People use words incorrectly all the time, but now they often see others online using the same word in the same (incorrect) way.
Because of that, some of these words will either be used correctly over time, or their misuse will turn into the new definition. It’s already happening to some words on our list, like the word “literally.” Some dictionaries are starting to include the “wrong” usage of the word as one possible correct way to use it!
Until all these words change meaning, though, it’s important to understand their current correct meanings.
1. Literally
Wrong meaning: Figuratively, very. The word is often used for emphasis and as an exaggeration, as in “I’m literally dying of laughter.”
Right meaning: Actually, exactly, without exaggeration.
“Literally” is a weird word because somehow, in recent years, it has been used for literally the opposite of its definition. The word actually means something exact or precise. For example:
There are literally millions of stars in the sky.
( = There are millions of stars in the sky.)
There is literally a snake in my bathroom. Please help!
( = There is a real snake in the bathroom.)
You are not “literally dying of laughter” unless you are actually dying. In extreme situations, you might be so hungry you could literally eat a horse. (But for the sake of any horses around you, we hope not!)
2. Factoid
Wrong meaning: A small fact.
Right meaning: A false fact.
The word “factoid” was first used by journalist, author and activist Norman Mailer in 1973 to talk about a fact that is not true. He wrote that factoids were “facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper”—that is, stuff that the media just makes up.
Today the word is used to refer to a “bite-sized” fact, a small quick fact or something that is repeated by so many people that it’s eventually assumed to be true. The -oid in factoid is a suffix (word ending) that means “resembling” or “like,” so factoid really means “fact-like.”
3. Irregardless
Wrong meaning: Regardless, without consideration of (or despite) the circumstances.
Right meaning: Even though this word is included in some dictionaries, it’s very nonstandard and we really recommend you don’t use it.
The phrase “regardless of” is used the same way as you would say “even though” or “in spite of.” For example:
Regardless of the definition being very clear, he still didn’t understand the word.
“Irregardless” is normally used to mean the same.
It was first used way back in the 1700s, possibly instead of the word “irrespective” (which does mean the same as “regardless,” but people rarely use it), or as a fusion of the words “irrespective” + “regardless.”
The “word” is used in speech to this day, even though it should mean the opposite (since the prefix ir- and the suffix -less are both negative). That makes it a double negative, just like “I won’t not eat the last cupcake” means you totally will.
We think it’s confusing too, and that’s why it’s best to avoid this “word”!
4. Entitled
Wrong meaning: The title of a book, TV show, etc.
Right meaning: Having, or believing that you have, the right to something.
When you buy a house, you’re entitled to it—you legally have the right to own the house. You can also be entitled to your opinion, since you have the right to speak your mind. Sometimes people can act entitled, if they act like they deserve special treatment.
A book, on the other hand, is never entitled, it’s just titled! People often misuse this word by saying, “The best movie in the world is entitled ‘Troll 2.’” This is not only untrue, it’s the incorrect usage of the word. Books, movies, TV shows and anything else that has a title are “titled.”
5. Poisonous
Wrong meaning: Something that will make you poisoned if you eat it, or if it bites you.
Right meaning: Something that will poison you, but only if you eat it.
People often think the words “poisonous” and “venomous” mean the same thing. And they do both deal with poison, a substance that will make you sick or even kill you. The difference is in the way the poison is administered (given):
- Poisonous is used for anything that will poison you when you ingest (eat) it
- Venomous is used for anything that will poison you if it bites you.
This is why murderers on TV shows use poison to kill their victims, they don’t use venom. Another example is the pufferfish, the Japanese delicacy, which is a poisonous fish—it can kill you if you eat it (and yet many people do still eat it!). A snake that can poison you, on the other hand, is venomous. Unless you bite it first, we guess.
6. Runners-up, Passers-by
Wrong meaning: The meaning is usually correct here, it’s the word itself that’s wrong—people often incorrectly say “runner-ups” and passer-bys.”
Right meaning: The correct plural form of the words “runner-up” and “passer-by” are “runners-up” and “passers-by.” (Note: “passerby” and “passersby,” without the hyphen, are also correct spellings.)
Runners-up are people who did not win in a contest, but did well enough to deserve a mention. Passersby (or passers-by) are people who happened to be walking by some place.
Often, the words are misspelled by people writing “passer-bys” and “runner-ups.” The hyphen ( – ) is actually not necessary, which looks even weirder: “passersby” is the plural of “passerby.” This is because the people are plural, not the second word (which just helps describe the people).
7. Ironic
Wrong meaning: Something unfortunate.
Right meaning: Something that’s funny, interesting or strange because it happens in a way that is opposite to what you’d expect.
“Ironic” is one word that no one seems to get right, even native speakers!
There are a few different kinds of irony, but the kind people usually mean when they use the word ironic is “situational irony.”
This is when something happens which is the opposite of what you’d expect, making the whole situation look comical or unusual. For example, you go on a diet and gain 20 pounds, or the fire station burns down. Irony can be funny, in a sad kind of way.
The infamous song “Isn’t It Ironic” by Alanis Morissette has some great examples of things that are unfortunate, but not actually ironic. For instance, rain on your wedding day is only ironic if you specifically chose that day because the forecast said it would be sunny.
Then again, maybe the joke is on us… it’s pretty ironic that a song about irony doesn’t actually have any.
8. Infamous
Wrong meaning: Very famous.
Right meaning: Famous for a negative reason.
Speaking of infamous people and things, this word does not mean “very famous.” It actually refers to something or someone who is famous for all the wrong reasons.
Heroes are famous for their great deeds. Bank robbers, on the other hand, are infamous for their criminal deeds. Celebrities can be either, depending on how well they behave themselves (or don’t).
9. Inflammable
Wrong meaning: Not flammable.
Right meaning: Flammable.
This mistake is very common for a very good reason: It just makes sense! As we mentioned before, the prefix in- means “not,” so it would make sense for the word “inflammable” to mean “not flammable.” The problem, though, is that “inflammable” actually comes from the word “enflame.”
So what’s the difference between “flammable” and “inflammable”? Absolutely nothing. You can use either word to mean the exact same thing. As if that weren’t enough, you can also use “non-flammable.” English can be weird sometimes! As comedian George Carlin put it, “Flammable… inflammable… non-inflammable. Why are there three of them? Either it flams or it doesn’t!”
10. Bemused
Wrong meaning: Amused, in a detached kind of way.
Right meaning: Confused or bewildered.
“Amused” and “bemused” look very similar, so it makes sense that people have started using the word “bemused” to mean amused in a calm way. What the word really means, though, is confused, puzzled or bewildered. It can sometimes also mean to be lost in thought.
So if you enjoy the silliness of the clown at your party, you are amused by him. If you didn’t invite any clowns to your party, you are more likely bemused.
11. Infer, Imply
Wrong meaning: People sometimes think both words mean the same thing, to suggest something.
Right meaning: “Imply” does mean to suggest something, but “infer” means to figure something out that isn’t stated outright.
“Infer” and “imply” are connected in meaning, but they are not the same thing. If you tell someone, “Wow this bag is really heavy for me to carry all alone,” you are implying that you want help. You’re not directly asking for help, but you’re hinting at it.
Whoever you’re talking to can infer from your statement that you want help carrying that heavy bag. Or they can respond that it doesn’t look that heavy, implying that you’re stuck carrying that bag by yourself.
12. Good, Well
Wrong meaning: “Well” and “good” mean the same thing, something that is positive.
Right meaning: The two words do have similar meanings, but “well” can be an adverb, an adjective, a verb, a noun or an interjection (Oh, well!), while “good” is just an adjective.
Many times, the words “well” and “good” are mixed up.
They can indeed have the same meaning sometimes: Something that is right or satisfactory, but they are used in different ways:
- When the word “well” is an adverb, it describes how you do something.
For example, “I play basketball well” or “Taylor Swift sings really well.” It describes how I play or how Taylor sings, and “play” and “sing” are both verbs.
- When the word “well” is an adjective, it simply describes a noun.
For example, in the sentence “Mary feels well,” our word refers back to Mary. Mary is described as feeling healthy, so well is an adjective.
- The word “good” can only be an adjective, which means its function is to describe a person, place or thing.
For example, “This is a good TV show,” “London is a good city,” or “He’s a good boy.” Saying “I feel good” would mean that you are feeling like a good person, which is possible, but probably not what you’re trying to say.
Learn the correct usage of all these English words, and you will feel more confident in your English skills. And remember that even native speakers get many of these words wrong!
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Often, non-native English speakers and even those who have English as their first language make mistakes.
However, these mistakes are preventable if one has adequate knowledge of the rules of grammar.
This article aims to define what grammar is and highlight common grammar mistakes. It also touches on the guidelines that govern English grammar and gives helpful tips on the best ways to refine your grammar and expand your vocabulary.
How to Speak English Without Grammar Mistakes
What Is Grammar?
According to dictionary.com, “grammar” is referred to as “the study of the way the sentences of a language are constructed; morphology and syntax.”
Simply put, grammar is a system of rules and principles that guide the speaking and writing of language.
It can also be the study of words and how they work together to form sentences.
Grammar exists so that English language speakers have a standard set of language rules to ensure understanding.
7 Common Grammar Mistakes
Grammar mistakes are simply errors that occur either in speaking or writing. It is said that a mistake has been made when a statement does not conform to the rules of grammar.
Usually, such a mistake ends up confusing the listener or reader to whom the statement is made.
Some of the common grammar mistakes people often make include:
1. Misusing The Tenses
It is perhaps the most common grammar mistake, both in speaking and writing. It is essential to avoid the mistake of switching from the present to past tense and vice versa.
The present tense depicts a consistent or ongoing action, while the past tense refers to something that has already happened.
When speaking or writing about the past, one does so in the past tense. When speaking of writing about an ongoing or consistent action, one does so in the present tense.
Switching between or interchanging the tenses leads to information not being properly conveyed.
Example:
- Incorrect == “When I was a kid, I eat a lot of candy”.
- Correct ==“When I was a kid, I ate a lot of candy”.
2. Incorrect use of Commas
The Comma is used to represent a short pause in a sentence.
A comma prevents one sentence from running into another.
In the case of compound sentences, there should be a comma before the conjunction to indicate that the two sentences are related.
The incorrect use of commas can give a sentence a meaning different from what the writer intends.
Example:
- Incorrect == “Jim went to the store and Pam went with him”.
- Correct== “Jim went to the store, and Pam went with him”.
3. Misuse or Omission of Articles
Articles in sentences are used to indicate whether the noun in a sentence is specific or general.
There are two types of articles used in writing or conversation in English. They are the definite article (the) used when referring to a specific noun.
Definite articles are used with both singular, plural, and uncountable nouns.
The other type of article in English is the indefinite article (a/an).
Indefinite articles are used when a noun refers to a general thing rather than something specific.
Indefinite articles usually appear before singular nouns. The misuse or omission of these articles in sentences shows a lack of proficiency in the English language.
Example: Definite Article
- Incorrect == “What is the name of a boy we met yesterday?”
- Correct == “What is the name of the boy we met yesterday?”
Example: Indefinite Article
- Incorrect == “I live in the apartment in the city.”
- Correct == “I live in an apartment in the city.”
4. Incorrect Use of Nouns and Pronouns
The incorrect use of nouns and pronouns occurs when the pronouns do not agree in number with the nouns to which they refer.
The cardinal rule is that singular nouns should be used with singular pronouns and plural nouns.
Example:
- Incorrect == “Every boy has their bag.”
- Correct == “Every boy has his bag.”
5. Subject-verb Disagreements
Mistakes with the subject-verb agreement can be the source of many grammatical errors.
When speaking or writing in the present tense, a sentence must have subjects and verbs that agree in number.
If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular.
If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural also.
Example:
- Incorrect == “These bananas is good for baking.”
- Correct == “These bananas are good for baking.”
6. Not Using Punctuation Marks.
The use of punctuation marks is essential. They help to give readers clarity.
Punctuations show readers how sentences are constructed and how to read them. They also make the meaning of sentences clear.
Example:
- Incorrect == “I am sorry I will come early tomorrow.”
- Correct == “I am sorry, I will come early tomorrow.”
7. Missing or Misplaced Apostrophe
We use the apostrophe to show that someone owns something or is in close relation with it.
Example:
- Incorrect == “Is that Jacks car?”
- Correct == “Is that Jack’s car? “
We also use the apostrophe to connect words and shorten sentences.
Example:
- Without Apostrophe ==“It is my box.”
- With Apostrophe == “It’s my box.”‘
Grammar mistakes make it difficult for a speaker to pass information across. Such errors also make it difficult for writers to capture the attention of readers.
When your speech or writing is error-free, it becomes easier for listeners or readers to understand the message you intend to convey.
Do your best to comply with grammar rules, whether speaking or writing. The knowledge of grammar guidelines provides a foundation for both speaking and writing in English.
The rules of English grammar are numerous, and we will be examining some of these rules below:
1. Proper Use of Punctuation Marks
The correct use of punctuation marks is necessary to guide against misunderstanding or confusion in writing.
Punctuation primarily helps indicate the pauses and the emphasis on the ideas or thoughts that a writer wishes to convey.
Proper punctuation also helps to make a piece of writing logical and readable.
Example:
- Incorrect == “The girls is ready to go.”
- Correct == “The girls are ready to go.”
2. Subject-verb Agreement
The subject and verb within a sentence need to agree with each other in number.
The agreement is important for a sentence to convey the proper meaning, and this is the central rule that forms the background of the concept.
Example:
- Incorrect == “The girls is ready to go.”
- Correct == “The girls are ready to go.”
However, if two subjects are joined by and, they typically require a plural verb.
Example:
- Incorrect == “Jim and Pam is married.”
- Correct == “Jim and Pam are married. “
3. Subject-verb object Agreement
The Subject verb object agreement is a sentence structure where the subject comes first, the verb, second, and the object third.
The subject usually acts; the object is the receiver of the action, while the verb reveals the subject’s action.
Sentences like this usually require a monotransitive verb (or a verb that only requires one subject).
Examples
- “He killed the slave.”
- “Angela sells clothes.“
4. Present Tense
The present tense is a grammatical tense whose primary function is to locate a situation or event in the current time. We use the present tense for actions that are consistent or currently occurring.
The present tense is one of the two tenses in the English language.
The present tense has four forms:
a. Simple Present
The simple present tense is a verb tense with two main uses.
We use the simple present tense when an action is happening or when it happens consistently.
Examples:
- “Michael is jogging.”
- “Michael jogs daily.“
The simple present tense has three forms:
I. Affirmative
Affirmative simple present tense refers to a sentence in the positive form (positive means a basic sentence, not a negative or a question).
The affirmative simple present tense is formed by using the root form of the verb or by adding s or es to the end.
Example:
- “Jamie loves pie.”
II. Negative
The process for making a simple present verb negative is by adding do/does + not to the root form of the verb.
Example:
- “Jamie does not love pie.”
III. Interrogative
When making a sentence in the simple present tense interrogative, you add “do/does” + the subject + the root form of the verb.
Example:
- “Does Jamie love pie?”
b. Present Continuous Tense
The present continuous tense is a way to convey any action or situation that is happening currently, happens frequently, and maybe ongoing.
It adds energy to writing, and it helps readers understand when the action is happening.
The present continuous tense is used together with dynamic verbs, that is, those that show action, e.g., walk, and not stative verbs, that is, verbs that do not change, e.g., deserve.
Examples:
- “I am walking home.”
- “My brother is arriving tomorrow.”
c. Present Perfect Tense
We use the present perfect tense when referring to something that occurred indefinitely in the past or when referring to something that began in the past and has continued into the present time.
This tense is constructed by adding have/has to the past participle of the root verb.
However, you can not use past perfect when you are specific about when something happened.
Examples:
- “We have baked with this oven before.”
- “She has worked here in the past.”
d. Present Perfect Continuous
The present perfect continuous tense indicates that something started in the past and is continuing at present.
The present perfect continuous tense’s structure is “has/have been” + the present participle + the root verb + ing.
Recently and lately are words used with verbs in the present perfect continuous tense.
However, not all verbs are compatible with continuous action. Examples of such verbs are to arrive and to own.
Examples:
- “I have been swimming since I was little.”
- “He has been studying for over 6 hours.”
5. Past tense
The past tense is a grammatical tense whose function is to place an action or situation in the past.
We also use the past tense to talk about hypotheses. It is the second form of tenses in the English language.
The past tense has four forms:
a. Simple Past Tense
The simple past tense emphasizes a concluded action. We use verb tenses when talking about things that happened or existed before the present.
We also employ the simple past tense when discussing a past state of being, such as how someone felt about something.
Example:
- “We had some chocolates.”
The simple past tense has three forms:
i. Affirmative
The affirmative simple past tense is formed by adding -ed to the root form of the verb or adding just -d if the root form already ends in an e. We use this in the case of regular verbs.
Example:
- “Walk” to “walk(ed)”
- “Love” to “love(d)”
In the case of some irregular verbs, the root forms do not change. E.g., “cut” remains even in the past tense.
Verbs in the simple past tense, except for the verb to be, do not agree in number with their subject.
Examples:
- “I furnished the apartment myself.”
- “They furnished the apartments with the help of an interior decorator.”
ii. Negative
The negative simple past tense is formed by adding did not to the root form of the verb.
In the case of the verb to be, we replace the “did” with “was.”
Examples:
- “We did not walk home because it rained.”
- “Her sister was not happy with her.”
iii. Interrogative
You can form a question in the simple past tense is by adding -did to the subject, then to the root form of the verb.
In the case of the verb to be, did is replaced with was or were.
Examples:
- “Did you go to school yesterday?”
- “Was she at home last week? “
b. Past Continuous Tense
The past continuous tense refers to a continuing action or event happening at some point in the past.
We form the past continuous tense by adding the past tense of to be, i.e., was or were, to the verbs present participle.
This verb tense often describes conditions that existed in the past.
Example:
- “The sisters were attending their first party.”
In addition, the past continuous tense sheds light on what was happening at a precise time in the past.
Example:
- “At Six p.m, I was preparing dinner.”
This tense also refers to habitual actions in the past.
Example:
- “Todd was constantly working to make ends meet two years ago.”
c. Past Perfect Tense
We often use this verb tense to talk about actions that were completed before another in the past.
To form the past perfect tense, you add the past tense of the verb “to have,” which is “had,” to the past participle of the root verb.
Example:
- “They had met before the conference.”
The past perfect tense shows that an action happened before something else.
Example:
- “She failed her exam because she had not read enough.”
The tense also indicates that an action happened before a specific time.
Example:
- “I had gotten home before Eight p.m.”
d. Past Perfect Continuous
The past perfect continuous tense indicates that an action that started previously continued until another time in the past.
We form the past perfect continuous tense using had been with the verb’s present participle, that is, root verb + -ing.
Example:
- “They had been waiting in line before it started raining.”
6. Future Tense
The future tense expresses an action that has not yet happened or a state that is not yet existing.
The future tense has four forms:
a. Future Simple Tense
We often use the future tense to talk about an action or condition that will begin and end in the future.
We can further divide the future simple tense into two:
i. Future Infinitive Tense.
We use the simple future tense when an action is promised to happen in the future.
Example:
- “My brother will come to London tomorrow.”
ii. Future Negative Tense
We form the negative simple future tense by adding will to not and then to the root form of the verb.
Example:
- “I will not wait if you are late tomorrow.”
b. Future Continuous Tense
We make use of the future continuous tense when an action is promised or thought to be going on at a specific period in the future.
We form a sentence in this tense by putting the subject first, then shall or will, followed by -be and the root verb plus ing.
Example:
- “I will be traveling by this time tomorrow.”
- “We shall be having breakfast with my parents.”
c. Future Perfect Tense
The future perfect tense indicates an action that is guaranteed to be done by a specific time in the future.
We make a sentence in this tense by putting the subject first, then adding shall or will, followed by “have” and the root verb in the past participle.
Example:
- “He will have cooked the meal before I get back from work.”
- “They will have finished building the house by January.”
d. Future Perfect Continuous Tense
This tense describes actions that will continue into a particular time in the future.
Example:
- “By 5 pm, I will have been waiting for 30 minutes.”
7. Regular Verbs
Regular verbs a defined as verbs whose past tense are formed by adding the letters -ed or -d to the root verb.
Regular verbs have three forms:
a.Present
The present form is the most common verb form in the English language. We use this form to express habits and general truths, among other things.
We form the present form by taking a subject pronoun and combining it with the corresponding verb conjugation.
Example:
- “He writes daily.“
b. Past simple
These are verbs used to describe an action completed in the past.
Examples:
- “He walked away.”
- “She moved out. “
c. Past participle
To form the past participle of most regular verbs in English, we add the suffix -ed to the base form of the verb.
Examples:
- “Call” — “call(ed)”
- “Walk” — “walk(ed)”
8. Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs do not take on the regular –d or -ed suffixes of the simple past tense. They are also known as strong verbs.
Examples:
- “think”
- “come”
- “make”
- “know”
Irregular verbs have the following forms:
a.Base form
The base form of a verb is the version of the verb without any endings. It is the most basic version of a verb.
Verbs in the base form are also called the infinitive or root form. Examples: cut, choose, take, break.
b. Past Simple
The past simple is the tense used to express situations that occurred in the past and have now ended.
No rule explains how to derive the past simple form of irregular verbs. Writers and speakers have to learn the verbs and their past forms by heart.
Examples:
- “We broke a plate.”
- “He cut the tree yesterday.”
C . Past participle
There is also no rule explaining how to derive the past participle of irregular verbs.
Examples:
- “She had broken the seal before reading the instructions”.
- “He has taken the vaccine since last week”.
9. Adjectives
Adjectives are words that qualify or describe the state of nouns. We also use them in describing the number of nouns.
Examples:
- “The hat she made is beautiful”.
- “We are expecting many people”.
There are three degrees of adjectives:
a. Positive Adjective
A Positive adjective describes something in its own right.
Examples:
- “A brilliant girl”.
- “A fine man”.
b. Comparative Adjective
Comparative adjectives usually make a comparison between two or more things.
For most monosyllabic adjectives, we make the comparative by adding the suffix -er, Ir only -r if the adjective already ends with an e. For adjectives with two syllables ending with -y, the -y is replaced with -ier.
For multi-syllable adjectives, the word more is added.
Examples:
- “A more brilliant girl”.
- “A finer man”.
c. Superlative Adjectives
Superlative adjectives show that something has the highest degree of quality in question.
Monosyllabic adjectives become superlatives by adding the suffix -est or -st for adjectives that already end in -e.
With two-syllable adjectives ending in -y, the -y is replaced with -iest. Using multi-syllabic adjectives requires that you add the word “most.”
When you use an article with a superlative adjective, it will usually be with the definite article the, rather than a or an. Using a superlative automatically implies that you are talking about a specific person or thing.
Examples:
- “The most brilliant girl”.
- “The finest man”.
10. Nouns
A noun is a word that serves as the name of a particular object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.
Nouns play several roles in sentences, ranging from subjects to objects.
There are different types of nouns serving several purposes, they are:
a. Concrete nouns
We identify a concrete noun through any of the five senses.
Examples:
- “phone”
- “noise”
- “rainbow”
b. Abstract nouns
The term abstract noun refers to nouns that are not perceivable using one of the five senses.
Examples:
- “fear”
- “courage”
- “faith”
c. Collective nouns
Collective nouns are names used to refer to a collection of several people or things.
Collective nouns are also words for single things comprising more than one person, animal, place, thing, or idea.
Examples:
- “An array of colors”
- “A herd of cattle”
d. Compound nouns
Compound nouns are a type of noun formed by putting two existing words together to make one noun.
They can be written together as one word, for example, firehouse. We can also write them as separate words, for example, ice cream, or hyphenated words, for example, well-meaning.
Examples:
- “We waited at the bus stop”
- “They have a swimming pool”
e. Possessive nouns
A possessive noun indicates ownership of something. It is easy to distinguish by the apostrophe that comes before the letter -S. However, this is not applicable in all cases.
Examples:
- “Phil’s phone is ringing”
- “I am scared of the cat. Its nails are very sharp”
f. Regular plural nouns
Most singular regular nouns are made plural by simply putting an -s at the end. There are many plural noun rules, and since we use nouns repeatedly when writing, we must know all of them.
The proper spelling of plurals usually depends on what letter the singular noun ends in.
Examples:
- To pluralize regular nouns, add s to the end. (“Boy” —“Boys”)
- If the singular noun ends in sh, -ch, -s, -ss, -x, or -z, add es to the end to make it plural. (“Church” — “Churches”)
- If a noun ends with f or -fe, the -f is usually changed to ve before adding the -s to construct the plural. (“Wife” — “Wives”).
- If the singular noun ends in o, In most cases, you need to add es to make it plural. (“Potato” — “Potatoes”).
g. Irregular nouns
Irregular plural nouns are nouns that do not become plural by adding -s or -es, as is usual for most nouns in the English language. Irregulars do not have specific rules.
It is best to check for the proper pluralization using the dictionary, especially for non-native English speakers.
Examples:
- “Man” — “Men”
- “Tooth” — “Teeth”
- “Child“ — “Children“
11. Pronouns
A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun or a noun phrase to avoid unnecessary repetition.
We can classify pronouns into the following:
a. Subject pronouns
These are the pronouns that are the actors of sentences. Examples include We, They, I.
Example:
- “I bake daily.”
- “They ran a marathon.”.
b. Object Pronouns
Object pronouns are the pronouns that receive the action in a sentence. Examples include Me, Them, you, her.
Examples:
- “She went with me.”
- “Had is waiting for them.”
c. Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives include your, his, my, her, its, our, or their. It is used with a noun to show that one person or thing belongs to another.
Examples:
- “I love her dog.”
- “That is my father.”
d. Possessive pronouns
These are also called Absolute or Strong pronouns.
Possessive pronouns show possession or ownership. Examples are “His”, “Hers”, “Mine”, “Yours”.
Examples:
- “Nina said the book is hers.”
- “The pink shoes are mine.”
e. Reflexive pronouns
Reflexive pronouns include yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. They point back to a person or thing. We also use reflexive pronouns are when the subject and the object of a verb are the same.
Examples:
- “The cat hurt itself.”
- “Tom is unsure of himself.”
12. Adverbs
An adverb is a word used in describing a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or an entire sentence. In most cases, adverbs often end in -ly.
The different kinds of adverbs are:
a. Adverbs of time
An adverb of time is a word that describes when, for how long, or how often a particular action occurred.
Example:
- “She left for school yesterday.”
b. Adverbs of place
Adverbs of place always answer the question where? An adverb of place always talks about the location where the action of the verb is carried out.
Example:
- “He hid the toy underneath the couch.”
c. Adverbs of frequency
An adverb of frequency describes how often an action occurs. We often use adverbs of frequency to indicate routine or repeated activities, so they are often used with the present simple tense.
Examples:
- “Ted jogs daily.”
- “We see each other frequently.”
d. Adverbs of manner
An adverb of manner describes how and in what way an action, denoted by a verb, is carried out.
Examples:
- “Andy walks briskly.”
- “We took our time to catch up, so we are slowly.”
e. Adverbs of degree
An adverb of degree tells to what extent we do something or something happens. Adverbs of degree show the intensity of something.
Adverbs of degree are usually placed before the adjective, adverb, or verb that they modify, but for some exceptions.
Examples:
- “Getting to the summit of the mountain is extremely dangerous.”
- “The water is too cold.”
f. Adverbs of reason
Adverbs of reason usually answer the question, why? They are used to explain the reason why an occurrence happened.
Examples:
- “She did not go to work because she was not feeling well.”
- “Since I woke up late, I missed my flight.”
g. Interrogative adverbs
We use interrogative adverbs to ask questions. The interrogative adverbs are why, where, when, and how.
Examples:
- “How did you lose your wallet?”
- “Where is the event happening?”
h. Relative adverbs
Relative adverbs are words that give more information about the people, places, or things being discussed.
In addition, they join clauses and sentences together. e.g., when, where, why.
Examples:
- “That is the place where I bought my car.”
- “2002 was the year when my brother was born.”
13. Determiners
We make use of determiners to provide information about a noun or to introduce a noun. Determiners usually come before a noun, not after.
Determiners also come before any other adjectives used to describe the noun.
Determiners are required before a singular noun but are optional when it comes to introducing plural nouns.
Examples:
- “Do you want this piece of chicken?”
- “Some boys missed school today.”
14. Prepositions
Prepositions specify what relationships exist between subjects or objects and other words in a sentence.
Often, prepositions tell you where something is or when something happened.
Prepositions also tell us where one noun is in relation to another. They include for, in, off, on, over, besides, and under.
Examples:
- “The remote is beside the couch.”
- “She has a pen on her table.”
15. Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words that connect other phrases, words, or clauses to each other.
Conjunctions allow the formation of complex, elegant sentences and avoidance of the abruptness of multiple short sentences.
It is essential to ensure that the phrases joined by conjunctions share the same structure.
Conjunctions have three forms:
a. Coordinating conjunctions
They include words like and, yet, but, so, for.
Example:
- “I wanted to study quietly, so I went to the library.”
b. Correlating conjunctions
They consist of words like either/or, neither/nor.
Example:
- “You can pick either the blue shawl or the purple one.”
c. Subordinating conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions include although, while, whereas, though, and because.
Example:
- “I am here because I need to be.”
16. Interjections
Interjections are words intended to express different levels of emotion or surprise. These words or phrases can stand alone or before or after a sentence.
Exclamation points usually follow interjections. e.g., “wow! “, “Oh!”, “Alas!”.
Examples:
- “Oh! What a pleasant surprise.”
- “Alas! Her mother died yesterday.“
How To Refine Your English Grammar?
Grammar rules are numerous. Learning these rules can be stressful for native and non-native speakers of the English language.
However, correct grammar is important for writing and speaking, whether as students or employees, because good grammar guarantees that you stand out. It is therefore essential to know some simple methods to improve your grammar. Here are some tips for you to try!
1. Study the Grammar Rules
Understanding the rules of grammar is crucial. Any time a grammatical question arises, you can refer to rules you’ve learned to get your answers.
Studying these rules also helps to avoid making basic mistakes.
2. Think in English
For a non-native English speaker, it is natural to think in a language familiar to you.
However, practicing thinking in English helps you get a grasp of the language faster.
3. Widen Your Vocabulary
It is crucial to keep widening your vocabulary by learning new words and their meaning.
Anytime a word seems new to you, get its spelling, check out its meaning in the dictionary, you will find out that your vocabulary will keep expanding.
4. Practice Your Writing Skills
Writing out words makes you more familiar with them.
It is advisable to keep a notebook where you write new words or rules of grammar that you learn.
Practice writing these words out daily, either on paper or electronically, until using those words comes naturally to you.
5. Read and Read-out Loud
Learning the English language becomes easier when you read wide.
Studying how various authors use language will improve your understanding and comprehension.
Try to read several genres and styles of writing.
You can choose from classic literature, fiction, non-fiction, biographies, online blogs, essays, and articles.
Pay attention to how sentences are structured, word order, spelling, and all the creative ways the authors use language.
Try reading aloud so you also get an idea of how the language sounds in conversation and so that someone can correct you if you are pronouncing a word wrong.
6. Learn to Punctuate
Improper punctuation can mean that the meaning you are trying to convey can be confused or lost.
Learning to punctuate correctly is as essential as it is to learn writing properly in English.
7. Play Word Games
Word games are fun, mentally tasking, and a great way to improve your use of grammar.
These word games are educational, and they usually provide explanations for wrong answers so you can learn from your mistakes.
8. Watch English Shows and Movies
In addition to the options listed above, watching English shows and movies with subtitles is a great way to refine your grammar.
It is definitely a great way to practice pronunciation as you are watching native English speakers.
9. Improve Your Listening Skills
Actively listening to people speak is another way to refine your grammar.
Pay attention to how other people form their sentences. Notice how and where they place words in sentences.
Also, notice how they say common phrases and pay attention to the vocabulary they use.
10. Imitate the Native Speakers
Try imitating what people who are native speakers of English say.
Imitation makes it easier to understand how to form sentences and to expand your vocabulary.
11. Do Not Be Afraid to Speak
By speaking as you learn, you have more opportunities to be corrected if you make a mistake.
Do not keep quiet and assume you know everything.
12. Accept Criticisms
Everyone is rooting for you to speak as fluently and correctly as possible.
When you inevitably make mistakes and are corrected, learn to take these corrections gracefully.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, learning the English language is not easy.
The process requires a lot of patience and determination.
However, the decision to learn the language has numerous advantages earlier highlighted.
Additional Reading — ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Local news in brief
Thresham Valley under water?
Plans to turn much of the Thresham Valley into a large (1) puddle / reservoir to provide drinking water for the local area have received mixed reactions. Local councillors have praised the scheme, arguing that the environmental and economic benefits of (2) flooding / pouring the valley will far outweigh the disadvantages. Several small (3) rural / urban communities – two villages, three hamlets and two farms – in the valley will disappear, however.
Lucky escape for farmer
A farmer was struck by (4) lightning / thunder on Thursday evening, while mending a fence in one of his (5) plains / fields. The farmer, Jack Dobson, received treatment for slight burns at Meldew Hospital. Talking about the incident later, he said: ‘It was (6) drizzling / showering slightly when I went out, but I’d checked the weather (7) prediction / forecast and it hadn’t said there was going to be a thunderstorm. It was lucky I was wearing my wellington boots!
Save bags and save money
Shoppers at a local supermarket are being urged not to throw away the supermarket’s plastic shopping bags. A spokesperson for Asdo said: ‘For every new bag we make, the factory has to pump out industrial (8) waste / litter and that’s increasing pollution in the (9) suburban / surrounding area. We want to reduce the number of bags we make each year. We’re offering a financial incentive to our customers to (10) reuse / repeat their bags by bringing them with them every time they shop with us rather than getting new ones each time.’
Local academic causes a stir
An academic from Davington University has caused controversy by claiming that (11) global / worldwide warming is not caused by human disregard for the (12) weather / environment. In her new book entitled Are We to Blame?, Professor Angela Lucini argues that large-scale changes in the Mediterranean (13) land / climate, for example, have taken place ever since the world was formed. ‘People weren’t responsible for the Ice Ages, or their coming to an end, and we certainly weren’t responsible for the fact the dinosaurs became (14) extinct / endangered so it’s a bit presumptuous of us to think we’re responsible for all the problems were facing now, isn’t it?’ she said.
Councillor calls for an end to the fireplace
Local councillor Davina Forrest is calling for a ban on the use of coal fires at home. ‘There’s no doubt that if domestic chimneys stopped pumping out (15) smoke / fog into the atmosphere, the (16) air / wind we’d all be breathing would be much (17) cleaner / clearer,’ she said.
Each of the words in bold is in the wrong form. Rewrite them correctly.
1. Most scientists accept that (globe) warming is a reality.
2. The weather was (freeze). I was wearing two pairs of clothes and my fingers were still cold!
3. What can we do to protect (danger) species like the giant panda?
4. Meteorologists can forecast tomorrow’s weather with Incredible (accurate) these days.
5. (Develop) a planning to build a water park on the site of the old airport.
6. All our products are (environment) friendly.
7. Everyone should be (extreme) worried about the hole in the ozone layer.
8. We live in a (resident) area about 20 minutes from the town center.
9. There’s not much (likely) of an event mental groups stopping the building of the new factory, is there?
10. Don’t worry! This snake is completely (harm).
11. Let’s go outside and enjoy the (sunny) while it lasts.
12. What kind of (neighbour) did you grow up in?
13. I hope they don’t (low) the price of petrol.
14. That (great) of solar power lies in its simplicity.
15. A number of different (pollute) in the river have closed the death of all the fish.
16. It’s (nature) dark for this time of day. There didn’t say that was going to be an eclipse, did they?
Should I use this word or that one? Does this sentence mean what I think it means? If you have had such a thought, you are not the only one. Errors in word usage account for a significant proportion of language problems in research papers written by non-native English speakers. Just as every discipline has its own set of conventions, there are certain errors that researchers in every discipline are prone to. Our editors have identified some recurrent errors that are more commonly found in the physical sciences research papers than in other fields.
In a research paper, language is the medium to disseminate your findings, so using words effectively is crucial importance. Therefore, it is best to be aware of and avoid the errors in word usage that could have an impact on the clarity of your manuscript. This article lists some examples of commonly observed errors in word usage and provides tips on how you can avoid them.
1. Words with similar sounds or meanings
Using a word that sounds similar to the intended word but has a different meaning is one of the most common errors in word choice. Among native speakers, such an error is often just a slip of the tongue. Among non-native speakers, however, it could be the result of genuine confusion.
In many cases, similar-sounding words may have similar (but not the same) meaning, which adds to the confusion. Let’s see how.
Example 1: Attained and obtained
Incorrect: The sensors attained steady state readings at high temperatures.
Correct: The sensors obtained steady state readings at high temperatures.
Attain means reach and is mostly used when talking about a condition or stage (e.g., “the larva attains maturity”), while Obtain simply means get (e.g., “he obtained data from hospital records”).
Example 2: Principal and principle
Incorrect: The principle components of the thermochemical state were used to derive the transport equations.
Correct: The principal components of the thermochemical state were used to derive the transport equations.
The word principle is a noun meaning a rule or law (e.g., “principle of conservation of mass”), whereas principal is an adjective meaning main or important or primary (e.g., “principal findings of the study”). These two are often mistakenly interchanged because of their similar sounds.
2. Spelling errors due to differences in pronunciation
Sometimes, the cultural aspects play a role in spelling errors. For instance, our editors have noticed a common case of confusion among Japanese authors, which most of you must already be aware of. It is the classic confusion between the letters “l” and “r.” This, as you know, is because of the phonemic differences between English and Japanese.
In most cases, a spellcheck program will catch such errors. But sometimes, the incorrect version may be a valid spelling too. For instance, spell check won’t recognize the problem when an author says “correct” instead of “collect,” “arrow” instead of “allow,” or “rock” instead of “lock.” The only way to avoid these errors is to be extra careful when writing them, looking up spellings of at least the “r/l” words you use most frequently in a paper, and doing a thorough proofread at the end, once you have completed writing the entire manuscript.
Example
Incorrect: The poles were displaced in the direction of the applied pressure.
Correct: The pores were displaced in the direction of the applied pressure.
3. Words with similar meanings but different connotations
Now let’s see how words that don’t sound similar but have similar or overlapping meanings can be misused.
Example 1: Devised and developed
Incorrect: We have devised a method to calculate the exergy efficiency.
Correct: We have developed a new method to calculate the exergy efficiency.
Both devise and develop mean coming up with something new, but the meaning of devise is restricted to an idea or a plan, whereas develop is generally used for a product or system invented.
Example 2: Alternate and alternative
Incorrect: Alternate measures were developed to reliably calculate the losses.
Correct: Alternative measures were developed to reliably calculate the losses.
While both alternate and alternative mean a substitute or a different choice of something, the word alternate could also be used to indicate something that is in a constant state of change (e.g., “alternating current”).
4. Using non-standard or non-existent forms of words
Sometimes, authors may add a prefix or suffix to a root word to form verbs, nouns, or adjectives that are either non-standard or non-existent.
Example 1
Incorrect: The structural changes were determinated through microscopy studies.
Correct: The structural changes were determined through microscopy studies.
Verbs, nouns, and adjectives can be formed from other words (called root words) by adding appropriate suffixes (e.g., –ify, –er, –al, –ate, -ly, –able, –ish, –ion). But these have to be standard, accepted spellings and cannot be arbitrarily created. In the example above, the author has erroneously added the suffix –ated to the root word determine, whereas the correct term is determined. (Note that the tense and plural forms of words are also achieved by appending suffixes.)
Example 2
Incorrect: The unbalance between the compositions of the combustion residues can cause changes in accuracy and efficiency.
Correct: The imbalance between the compositions of the combustion residues can cause changes in accuracy and efficiency.
Antonyms of English words can be formed by adding several prefixes: in–, im–, un–, a–, an–, il–, ir–, non–, and so on. There is generally a linguistic/etymological rationale for which prefixes are used with which words. But the rules are highly variable and seem arbitrary. A dictionary or a thesaurus is the best guide for choosing the right form.
In the example above, the author has used unbalance, which is in fact more commonly used as a verb (e.g., “to unbalance someone”). The standard noun form is imbalance.
Example 3
Incorrect: Because of the unstableness of this process, the steady-state condition may vary.
Correct: Because of the instability in this process, the steady-state condition may vary.
Since the root word here is unstable, the author has assumed that the noun form will have the suffix –ness. However, instability is the right noun form. Some other examples of words that are used in non-standard forms are clean (incorrect: cleanness, correct: cleanliness), inaccurate (incorrect: inaccurateness, correct: inaccuracy), and intelligent (incorrect: intelligentness, correct: intelligence). This is a non-exhaustive list, so please be sure to always check the appropriate form of usage.
5. Use of plurals (countable or uncountable)
One of the most common hurdles encountered by authors who are unfamiliar with the finer nuances of the English language is the differentiation between countable and uncountable nouns. Countable nouns are those that refer to something that can be counted and then expressed in a unique singular/plural form, e.g., sample/samples, temperature/temperatures, and atom/atoms. Uncountable nouns are often used to represent collective forms using either the singular or plural reference, but never both.
Examples of words used exclusively in uncountable form:
Information (e.g., “this information is crucial to the subsequent modeling process,”
Performance (e.g., “the performance of the samples was evaluated”, “a series of tests were conducted”)
Examples of words that have countable forms but are preferably used in uncountable form: Data (plural of “datum”; this word is recommended to be used in singular form in the APA and Chicago styles but always in the plural form in the IEEE style), research (the plural form of this word “researches” can often be mistaken as a verb, so the singular form is always recommended)
Sometimes, authors get confused when using words that indicate quantity. Words that clearly indicate discrete values should be used with countable nouns. The only exclusion to this rule would be units of measurement, which are always written in singular form when accompanied by numbers (e.g., 3 second, 4.2 meter, 6 ampere, 285 kelvin, 685 joule).
Words such as number or series are by themselves singular, but may take on plural forms depending on context. “A number” can be singular or plural depending on the parameter it modifies (e.g., “A number of samples were examined” is plural because the term “samples” is plural, “A number X is chosen to represent the length of the vector” is singular because the variable “X” is a singular parameter). Similarly, the word “series” is always considered singular when accompanied by the article “a” (e.g., “a series of measurements is obtained”, “these series of values were analyzed to obtain the means and distribution characteristics”).
6. Incorrect collocations
Collocations are combinations of words that appear together very frequently and have evolved as natural phrasing in English. For example, “heavy rain” and “strong wind” are collocations. The words rain and wind can be described by many adjectives, but heavy and strong, respectively, are among the more common ones. You would not say “strong rain” or “heavy wind;” that does not sound natural.
To native speakers, these collocations come naturally, but non-native speakers often struggle to get them right. Please go through the following sentences carefully, focusing on the words in blue. The corrections (in red) show which words go better with those in blue.
Examples:
- Researchers should
maintainexercise extreme caution when performing this procedure. - The device was
constructeddesigned to withstand extreme variations in temperature. - Only 40% of the samples showed
entirefull compliance for the required characteristics.
The original word choices (strikethrough text) may have seemed grammatically and logically correct to the author when used with the words in blue, but these combinations sound odd because they go against the natural instinct of a native-speaking reader.
Related reading:
- Avoid the most common errors of grammar in research papers
- Punctuation…?: A useful guide for academic writing
If You Can Verb a Noun, Can You Also Noun-ize a Verb?
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LanguageTool
In informal speech, using a verb as a noun may be acceptable. But we’ll show you three strategies to avoid this conversion when writing.
How to Identify Nouns and Verbs
To be certain that the word after a determiner is definitely a noun, look out for modifications of the word in doubt. Due to morphological connections in the history of English, there are nearly no cases of isolated words. Therefore, every given expression has several relatives with other parts of speech. We show you three strategies that will help you to avoid misusing verbs, and select the correct nouns.
Strategy 1: Look for the Noun That Refers to the Verb
Be careful with using verbs instead of nouns. You can recognize verbs by identifying certain endings: -ize, -ify, -ate, or —en. Similarly, these verbs can also be transformed into nouns by merging them with the following suffixes:
Typical ending | Verb | Noun |
---|---|---|
-ance / -ence |
perform differ |
performance difference |
-ion | suffocate specify |
suffocation specification |
-(e)ry | bake discover |
bakery discovery |
-ment | enlighten advertise |
enlightenment advertisement |
-al | propose try |
proposal trial |
-age | waste store |
wastage storage |
Instead of using the verb, always combine the noun with the determiner:
Incorrect
That was the extend of her jurisdiction.
Correct
That was the extent of her jurisdiction.
There are even more commonly used noun endings. Most of them indicate a conversion from adjective to noun, or from noun to another noun.
Typical ending syllable(s) | Examples of nouns | Notes |
---|---|---|
-sis | diagnosis analysis |
Especially used with verbs like analyze or diagnose |
-ness | brightness friendliness |
Very common for adjectives (e.g., bright, friendly) |
-ity | capability curiosity |
Very common for adjectives (e.g., capable, curious) |
-cy | urgency pregnancy |
Very common for adjectives (e.g., urgent, pregnant) |
-ship | friendship companionship |
Especially used with nouns (e.g., friend, company) |
-ism | racism socialism |
Societal ideologies |
-er / -ent / -ant | server / servant student |
Labels for persons (or objects) |
You can find many more of these morphological connections:
to believe—a belief, to prophesy—a prophecy, to describe—a description
It is even possible to retrieve several nouns from the same root.
The government differs in its terms of governance from the previous one.
Strategy 2: Be Aware of Exceptions and Use Them As Needed
There are some word pairs that have identical nouns and verbs. In these rare cases, you don’t have to worry about misusing a verb, since their written forms are the same. Occasionally, the verb reflects the noun directly.
You can drink a drink and fish some fish.
In other instances, the verb and the noun have only little to do with each other.
You park a car next to the city park.
Other cases indicate just a change in word stress:
to record (first syllable stressed) vs. the record (second syllable stressed) as in
He recorded the court proceedings, so now we have a record of them.
Fortunately, there are cases when you get to use a verb as a noun. Then, you need the gerund form of the verb, and you combine it with the definite determiner the.
The judges didn’t like the singing as much as the dancing.
Very few verbs have managed to exist as accepted nouns. We call these verbal nouns.
The mass killings were tragic wrongdoings.
Some verbal nouns have a meaning that’s different from the verb gerund itself. So, try to be aware of when to use the noun and when to use the stem verb in its gerund form.
Smoking is not allowed in this pub.
The group was smoking all the salmon they caught yesterday.
Strategy 3: Rephrase the Whole Sentence and Use a Verb Construction
The third strategy is to avoid a phrasing that requires a noun, and opt to use a verb instead. The result might be a gerund construction, or a subordinate clause.
After the arrival of your grandchildren, you won’t have time for cleaning the house.
→ After your grandchildren arriving, you won’t have time for cleaning the house.
→ After your grandchildren arrive, you won’t have time for cleaning the house.
Especially in long noun phrases, this technique can help to avoid confusion. In addition to precision and conciseness, sentences with more verbs usually appear more active and captivating for your readers.
Trick
Whenever you notice a high frequency of nouns in your writing, go back to strategy one and reverse it to change your nouns into proper verbs.
As you can see, you can easily lose your readers when you don’t pay attention to your written expression. Likewise to the rule not to use nouns as verbs, try to keep in mind the other way around. LanguageTool always supports your writing. You can rely on its spelling and grammar check, as well as its stylistic suggestions, no matter if you want to write an apply, a propose, an invite, or an inform.
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