Last Update: Jan 03, 2023
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Asked by: Maxwell Aufderhar
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The singular “they” is a generic third-person pronoun used in English. It’s not the only third-person singular pronoun—other third-person singular pronouns are “she” and “he” as well as less common options such as “ze” or “hen.”
Does they have to be plural?
According to standard grammar, “they” and its related forms can only agree with plural antecedents. … “They” most often turns singular in common usage when its antecedent is considered generic, not referring to a single known person.
Can you use they as singular pronoun?
The singular “they” is a generic third-person singular pronoun in English. … Also use “they” as a generic third-person singular pronoun to refer to a person whose gender is unknown or irrelevant to the context of the usage. Do not use “he” or “she” alone as generic third-person singular pronouns.
Is it correct to say they is?
«They are» is still the correct choice when referring to a single person, rather than «they is.» When someone tells you that their pronouns are they and them, it means that instead of referring to the person as he/him or she/her, you’re being asked to refer to the person as they/them. Simple enough, right?
Are they them pronouns plural?
They is not only a plural pronoun
They is also a singular pronoun, and it has been for centuries. Lexicographers have determined that as far back as the 1300s, they and its related forms have been used to refer to an indefinite referent—that is, an unspecified, unknown person.
37 related questions found
What are the 72 genders?
The following are some gender identities and their definitions.
- Agender. A person who is agender does not identify with any particular gender, or they may have no gender at all. …
- Androgyne. …
- Bigender. …
- Butch. …
- Cisgender. …
- Gender expansive. …
- Genderfluid. …
- Gender outlaw.
Can I use their instead of his her?
Do not use «their» as an alternative to his or her; «their» should be used only when referring to a plural subject. Each of the rules here offers a method of avoiding gender-based language. 1. Rewrite the sentence to avoid the need for any pronoun at all.
Is the word we second person?
First person is the I/we perspective. Second person is the you perspective. Third person is the he/she/it/they perspective.
What kind of verb is the word was?
First-person singular simple past tense indicative of be. Third-person singular simple past tense indicative of be. Third-person plural past tense indicative of be.
Is we a first person word?
The pronouns I and we are first-person pronouns; they refer to the self. The pronoun you, used for both singular and plural antecedents, is the second-person pronoun, the person who is being addressed.
Why is singular wrong?
What is ‘singular they’? Singular they is the use of they, their or them (plural pronouns) with a singular antecedent (the word the they, their or them refers back to). … Since everyone is technically singular (you say everyone is not everyone are), some folk would insist that the sentence is grammatically wrong.
Can I use they in academic writing?
To refer to people of unknown or unspecified gender, the pronouns they/them/their are generally the most appropriate choice. They has long been used as a singular pronoun in informal contexts, and a growing number of style guides (including APA and MLA) now endorse this usage in academic writing.
When did you become singular?
You functioned as a polite singular for centuries, but in the seventeenth century singular you replaced thou, thee, and thy, except for some dialect use. That change met with some resistance. In 1660, George Fox, the founder of Quakerism, wrote a whole book labeling anyone who used singular you an idiot or a fool.
What are three common nouns?
Examples of a Common Noun
- People: mother, father, baby, child, toddler, teenager, grandmother, student, teacher, minister, businessperson, salesclerk, woman, man.
- Animals: lion, tiger, bear, dog, cat, alligator, cricket, bird, wolf.
- Things: table, truck, book, pencil, iPad, computer, coat, boots,
Is everyone a singular or plural pronoun?
Grammarians actually agree that the words everyone and everybody are singular. Grammar Girl (that is I!) herself explains the answer in her book. She says, everyone sounds like a lot of people, but in grammar land, everyone is a singular noun and takes a singular verb.
Does they always mean plural?
One common bugbear of the grammatical stickler is the singular they. For those who haven’t kept up, the complaint is this: the use of they as a gender-neutral pronoun (as in, “Ask each of the students what they want for lunch.”) is ungrammatical because they is a plural pronoun.
What type of word is was in grammar?
The only function of the word “was” in verbal and written form of English, is as a Verb. The word “was” is classified as a verb, more specifically a linking verb, because it joins the subject with the part of the sentence that provides additional information about the suject.
Was were are verbs?
Actually, was/were are the past tense form of the verb “to be”. You can easily learn this subject. … If you want to remember easily, you can think of was/were as the past tense form of the auxiliary verbs am, is and are. Generally, “was is used for singular objects and “were” is used for plural objects.
What is second person in writing?
When writing in the second person, address the reader directly. This type of writing feels personal to the reader. Use ‘you’ and ‘your’. «When you see a monster, you should tell them to tidy up.»
What is 2nd person in English?
English Language Learners Definition of second person
: a set of words or forms (such as pronouns or verb forms) that refer to the person that the speaker or writer is addressing. : a writing style that uses second person pronouns and verbs.
What is 4th person point of view?
To summarize, the 4th person perspective is the collection of points-of-view in a group — the collective subjective. The 4th person is not about one specific story — it is about the relationship and overlaps between stories and how that creates a wholly new story and image.
What should I use instead of him or her?
Instead of «he/she,» «him/her,» «his/her,» «his/hers,» and «himself/herself» it would be: «ey,» «em,» «eir,» «eirs,» and «eirself», or.
Which is correct this is her or this is she?
In English, the non-emphatic subject case is she, and all other forms (object case and emphatic form) are her. Therefore, in natural English the correct answer is «This is her.» This is how non-native speakers learn to say the sentence.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the English personal pronoun. For other uses, see They (disambiguation).
«Theirs» redirects here. Not to be confused with Thiers.
In Modern English, they is a third-person pronoun relating to a grammatical subject.
Morphology[edit]
In Standard Modern English, they has five distinct word forms:[1]
- they: the nominative (subjective) form
- them: the accusative (objective, called the ‘oblique’.[2]: 146 ) and a non-standard determinative form.
- their: the dependent genitive (possessive) form
- theirs: independent genitive form
- themselves: prototypical reflexive form
- themself: derivative reflexive form (nonstandard; now chiefly used instead of «himself or herself» as a reflexive epicenity for they in pronominal reference to a singular referent)[3]
History[edit]
Old English had a single third-person pronoun hē, which had both singular and plural forms, and they wasn’t among them. In or about the start of the 13th century, they was imported from a Scandinavian source (Old Norse þeir, Old Danish, Old Swedish þer, þair), where it was a masculine plural demonstrative pronoun. It comes from Proto-Germanic *thai, nominative plural pronoun, from PIE *to-, demonstrative pronoun.[4]
By Chaucer’s time the th— form has been adopted in London for the subject case only, whereas the oblique cases remain in their native form (hem, here < OE heom, heora). At the same period (and indeed before), Scots texts, such as Barbour’s Bruce, have the th— form in all cases.[5]: 176
The development in Middle English is shown in the following table. At the final stage, it had reached its modern form.
| I | II | III | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | þei | þei | þei |
| Oblique | hem | hem | hem ~ þem |
| Genitive | her(e) | her(e) ~ þeir | þeir |
Singular they[edit]
Singular they is a use of they as an epicene (gender-neutral) pronoun for a singular referent.[6][7] In this usage, they follows plural agreement rules (they are, not *they is), but the semantic reference is singular. Unlike plural they, singular they is only used for people. For this reason, it could be considered to have personal gender. Some people refuse to use the epicene pronoun they when referring to individuals on the basis that it is primarily a plural pronoun instead of a singular pronoun.[8][9][10]
Word of the year[edit]
In December 2019, Merriam-Webster chose singular they as word of the year. The word was chosen because «English famously lacks a gender-neutral singular pronoun to correspond neatly with singular pronouns like everyone or someone, and as a consequence they has been used for this purpose for over 600 years.»[11]
Syntax[edit]
Functions[edit]
They can appear as a subject, object, determiner or predicative complement.[1] The reflexive form also appears as an adjunct.
- Subject: They‘re there; them being there; their being there; they allowed for themselves to be there.
- Object: I saw them; I directed her to them; They connect to themselves.
- Predicative complement: In our attempt to fight evil, we have become them; They eventually felt they had become themselves.
- Dependent determiner: I touched their top; them folks are helpful (non-standard)
- Independent determiner: This is theirs.
- Adjunct: They did it themselves.
Dependents[edit]
Pronouns rarely take dependents, but it is possible for they to have many of the same kind of dependents as other noun phrases.
- Relative clause modifier: they who arrive late
- Determiner: Sometimes, when you think, «I will show them,» the them you end up showing is yourself.
- Adjective phrase modifier: the real them
- Adverb phrase external modifier: Not even them
Semantics[edit]
Plural they‘s referents can be anything, including persons, as long as it doesn’t include the speaker (which would require we) or the addressee(s) (which would require you). Singular they can only refer to individual persons. Until the end of the 20th century, this was limited to those whose gender is unknown (e.g., Someone’s here. I wonder what they want; That person over there seems to be waving their hands at us.).[12]
Generic[edit]
The pronoun they can also be used to refer to an unspecified group of people, as in In Japan they drive on the left. or They‘re putting in a McDonald’s across the street from the Target. It often refers to the authorities, or to some perceived powerful group, sometimes sinister: They don’t want the public to know the whole truth.
Pronunciation[edit]
According to the OED, the following pronunciations are used:
| Form | Full | Reduced | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| they | /ˈðeɪ/ |
female speaker with US accent |
|
| them | (UK) /ˈðɛm/
(US) /ˈðɛm/ |
(UK) /ð(ə)m/
(US) /ðəm/ |
female speaker with US accent |
| their | (UK) /ˈðɛː/
(US) /ˈðɛr/ |
(UK) /ðə/
(US) /ðər/ |
female speaker with US accent |
| theirs | (UK) /ˈðɛːz/
(US) /ˈðɛrz/ |
female speaker with US accent |
|
| themselves | /ðɛmˈsɛlvz/ | (UK) /ð(ə)mˈsɛlvz/
(US) /ðəmˈsɛlvz/ |
female speaker with US accent |
| themself | /ðɛmˈsɛlf/ | (UK) /ð(ə)mˈsɛlf/
(US) /ðəmˈsɛlf/ |
In popular culture[edit]
- Them is a Northern Irish band.
See also[edit]
- English personal pronouns
- Genderqueer
- Generic antecedents
- Object pronoun
- Possessive pronoun
- Spivak pronoun
- Subject pronoun
References[edit]
- ^ a b Huddleston, Rodney; Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2002). The Cambridge grammar of the English language. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Lass, Roger, ed. (1999). The Cambridge history of the English Language: Volume III 1476–1776. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- ^ “Themself.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/themself. Accessed 25 Jan. 2022.
- ^ «they | Origin and meaning of they by Online Etymology Dictionary». www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
- ^ a b Blake, Norman, ed. (1992). The Cambridge history of the English Language: Volume II 1066–1476. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Bjorkman, B., (2017) “Singular they and the syntactic representation of gender in English”, Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 2(1), p.80. doi: https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.374
- ^ «‘He or she’ versus ‘they’«. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on December 15, 2011. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
- ^ «Actually, We Should Not All Use They/Them Pronouns».
- ^ «Toronto professor Jordan Peterson takes on gender-neutral pronouns». BBC News. 4 November 2016.
- ^ «A professor’s refusal to use gender-neutral pronouns, and the vicious campus war that followed». 25 January 2017.
- ^ Locker, Melissa (2019-12-10). «Merriam Webster Names ‘They’ As Its Word of the Year for 2019». Time. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
- ^ Lagunoff, Rachel (1997). Singular They (Doctoral dissertation). UCLA.
- Abkhaz: дара (dara)
- Adyghe: ахэр (aaxer)
- Afar: usun
- Afrikaans: hulle (af) pl
- Akan: wɔn (animate), ɛno (inanimate)
- Albanian: ata (sq) m pl, ato (sq) f pl
- Alviri-Vidari: اووا (uvā)
- Amharic: እነሱ (ʾənäsu)
- Arabic: (dual) هُمَا (humā), هُم (ar) pl (hum), هُنَّ (ar) f pl (hunna), (non-human) هِيَ (ar) (hiya)
- Egyptian Arabic: هما (humma), هم m pl (humm)
- Levantine Arabic: هن pl (hinne), هم pl (humme)
- Gulf Arabic: اهم (uhum, uhmə)
- Tunisian Arabic: هُمَا m pl or f pl (humā)
- Aragonese: els, ellos (masculine), ellas (feminine)
- Armenian: նրանք (hy) (nrankʿ)
- Old Armenian: նոքա (nokʿa)
- Aromanian: nãsh m pl, nãse f pl, nãsi f pl, elj m pl, eali f pl, eli f pl
- Assamese: সিহঁত (xihõt) (distal), ইহঁত (ihõt) (proximal), তেওঁলোক (teü̃lük) (distal, polite), এওঁলোক (eü̃lük) (proximal, polite)
- Asturian: ellos (ast) m pl, elles (ast) f pl
- Aymara: jupanaka
- Azerbaijani: onlar (az)
- Bambara: u
- Bashkir: улар (ular)
- Basque: haiek
- Belarusian: яны́ (be) (janý)
- Bengali: তারা (bn) (tara)
- Breton: i (br), int (br)
- Bulgarian: те (bg) (te)
- Burmese: သူတို့ (sutui.), သူများ (my) (su-mya:)
- Buryat: тэдэ (tede)
- Catalan: ells (ca) m pl, elles (ca) f pl
- Chechen: уьш (üš), уьзуш (üzuš)
- Chichewa: iwo
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: (vernacular) 佢哋 (keoi5 dei6), (literary) 他們／他们 (taa1 mun4)
- Dungan: таму (tamu), ана (ana)
- Gan: 佢們／佢们 (qie2 miin), 渠們／渠们 (qie2 miin)
- Jin: 他們／他们 (ta1 me)
- Mandarin: 他們／他们 (zh) (tāmen), (females only) 她們／她们 (zh) (tāmen), (non-human) 它們／它们 (zh) (tāmen)
- Min Dong: 伊各儂／伊各侬 (ĭ-gáuk-nè̤ng)
- Min Nan: 𪜶 (zh-min-nan) (in)
- Teochew: 𪜶 (zh-min-nan) (ing1), 伊儂／伊侬 (i1 nang5)
- Wu: 伊拉 (hhi la, hhi laq) (Shanghai)
- Xiang: 他們／他们 (ta1 men)
- Chuvash: вӗсем (vĕs̬em)
- Cornish: i, jei, anjei
- Czech: oni (cs), ony (cs)
- Dalmatian: jali m pl, jale f pl
- Danish: de (da)
- Dhivehi: އެ މީހުން (e mīhun̊)
- Dutch: zij (nl), ze (nl)
- Dyirbal: not used in Dyirbal (Dyirbal has no third-person pronoun)
- Dzongkha: ཁོང (khong)
- Egyptian: (suffix pronoun) (.sn), (Late Egyptian suffix pronoun)
(.w), (enclitic pronoun) (sn), (stressed pronoun) (ntsn)
- Erzya: сынь (siń)
- Esperanto: ili (eo), tiuj (eo)
- Estonian: nemad (et) pl, nad (et) pl
- Ewe: wo
- Faroese: teir (fo) m tær (fo) f, tey (fo) n
- Fijian: (dual) (please verify) rau (fj), (paucal) (please verify) iratou, (pl) (please verify) ira
- Finnish: (of people) he (fi), (of inanimate things and animals) ne (fi), (informally of people) ne (fi), hyö (fi) (dialectal)
- French: ils (fr) m, elles (fr) f, (tonic) eux (fr) m pl, (neologism) iels (fr) n pl
- Old French: (male only or mixed) il, (female only) eles
- Louisiana French: eux (fr), eusse (fr), eux-autres (fr)
- Friulian: lôr
- Galician: eles (gl) m, elas f
- Georgian: ისინი (isini)
- German: sie (de)
- Greek: αυτοί (el) m (aftoí), αυτές (el) f (aftés), αυτά (el) n (aftá)
- Ancient Greek: οὗτοι m (hoûtoi), αὗται f (haûtai) ταῦτα (taûta); σφεῖς (spheîs)
- Guaraní: ha’ekuéra
- Gujarati: એવણ (evaṇ)
- Hausa: (independent form) súu
- Hawaiian: lāua du, lākou pl
- Hebrew: הֵם (he) m (hem), הֵן (he) f (hen)
- Higaonon: sidan
- Hindi: वे (hi) (ve), ये (hi) (ye)
- Hiri Motu: idia
- Hopi: puma
- Hungarian: ők (hu), (usually indicated by the suffix only) -nak, -nek
- Icelandic: þeir (is) m pl, þær (is) m or f, þau (is) n pl
- Ido: li (io), ili (io) m, eli (io) f, (things) oli (io)
- Indonesian: mereka (id)
- Ingrian: höö
- Ingush: уж (už)
- Interlingua: illes (ia) m, illas (ia) f, illos (ia) n
- Irish: siad (conjunctive), iad (disjunctive), siadsan, iadsan (emphatic)
- Old Irish: é
- Istriot: luri
- Italian: essi (it), loro (it)
- Japanese: 彼ら (ja) (かれら, karera), あいつら (aitsura), (non-human) それら (ja) (sorera), (polite) あの人達 (あのひとたち, anohito-tachi), (more polite) あの方々 (あのかたがた, anokata-gata), 彼女ら (ja) (かのじょら, kanojora) (females only)
- Kabuverdianu: es
- Kaingang: ag
- Kalmyk: тедн (tedn)
- Kannada: ಇವರು m or f (ivaru), ಇವುಗಳು n (ivugaḷu), ಇವು (kn) n (ivu), ಅವರು (kn) m or f (avaru), ಅವುಗಳು n (avugaḷu), ಅವು (kn) n (avu)
- Karakalpak: olar
- Karakhanid: اُلارْ (olar)
- Kashubian: òni
- Kazakh: олар (kk) (olar)
- Khakas: олар (olar)
- Khmer: គាត់ (km) (koat), ពួកគេ (puək kee), គេ (km) (kei), ពួកគាត់ (puək kŏət)
- Korean: 그들 (geudeul), 그녀들 (geunyeodeul) (females only)
- Kyrgyz: алар (ky) (alar)
- Lakota: epi, iyepi
- Laboya: rattu
- Lao: ພວກເຂົາ (phūak khao)
- Latgalian: jī m, juos f, šī m, šuos f
- Latin: ei (la)/ii (la), hi (la), illi
- Latvian: viņi (lv) m, viņas (lv) f
- Lithuanian: jie (lt) m pl, jos (lt) f pl
- Livonian: nämād, ne
- Louisiana Creole French: yé
- Low German: sei (nds), se (nds)
- Lü: please add this translation if you can
- Macedonian: ти́е (tíe)
- Malay: mereka (ms)
- Maltese: huma (mt)
- Manchu: ᠴᡝ (ce)
- Manx: ad (gv), adsyn (emphatic)
- Maori: rāua du, rātou pl
- Mazanderani: وشون (vešun)
- Mon: ညး တံ (ɲɛ̀h tɔʔ), ဍေံ တံ (ɗɛ̀h tɔʔ)
- Mongolian: тэд нар (ted nar)
- Mori Bawah: ira
- Motu: idia
- Mòcheno: sei
- Neapolitan: loro
- Ngarrindjeri: kar
- North Frisian: (Heilgolandic) djo, (Mooring) ja
- Northern Sami: (please verify) soai dual, (please verify) sii pl
- Norwegian: de (no)
- Nynorsk: dei (nn)
- Occitan: eles (oc), elas
- Ojibwe: wiinawaa
- Old Church Slavonic:
- Cyrillic: они (oni)
- Old East Slavic: они (oni), онѣ (oně) (females or non-animate)
- Old English: hīe pl
- Old Norse: þeir, þær, þau
- Oromo: isaan
- Ottoman Turkish: اولار (olar)
- Pashto: هغوی (hoǧúy) (absent or distant), دوی (ps) (dūy) (visible or present)
- Persian: ایشان (fa) (išân), آنها (fa) (ânhâ), آنان (fa) (ânân)
- Pipil: yejemet, yehemet
- Pitjantjatjara: (here) ngaa, (there) pala, (over there) nyara, (not visible) palunya
- Polish: oni (pl) m (animate), one (pl) m or f or n (nonanimate)
- Portuguese: eles (pt) m, elas (pt) f
- Quechua: paykuna (qu)
- Rapa Nui: raua
- Romani: on
- Kalo Finnish Romani: joon
- Vlax Romani: von
- Romanian: ei (ro) m, ele (ro) f, dumnealor m pl or f pl (formal, polite)
- Romansch: els m, ellas f
- Russian: они́ (ru) (oní)
- Rusyn: вни́ (vný)
- Saho: usun
- Scots: thay
- Scottish Gaelic: (nonemphatic) iad, (emphatic) iadsan
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: они m pl, оне f pl, она n pl
- Roman: oni m pl, one (sh) f pl, ona (sh) n pl
- Shan: please add this translation if you can
- Shor: ылар (ılar)
- Sicilian: iddi (scn), idde f
- Sidamo: insa
- Sinhalese: ඔවුහු (owuhu), ඔව්හු (owhu), ඔවුන් (owun), එයාලා (eyālā) (informal)
- Slovak: oni m pl, ony f pl or n pl
- Slovene: ôni (sl) m, ône (sl) f, ôna (sl) n
- Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: wóni
- Southern Altai: олор (olor)
- Spanish: ellos (es) m, ellas (es) f, (neologism) elles (es) n
- Sranan Tongo: den
- Swahili: wao
- Swedish: de (sv), dom (sv)
- Sylheti: ꠔꠣꠁꠘ (tain), ꠔꠣꠞꠣ (tara)
- Tagalog: (ng form) nila, (sa form) kanila, (unmarked form) sila (tl)
- Tajik: эшон (tg) (ešon), онҳо (tg) (onho)
- Tamil: அவர் (ta) (avar), இவர் (ta) (ivar)
- Taos: ą́wąną
- Tatar: алар (alar)
- Telugu: వారు (te) (vāru), వాళ్ళు (vāḷḷu)
- Tetum: sira
- Thai: เขา (th) (kǎo), พวกเขา (pûuak-kǎo)
- Tibetan: ཁོང་ཚོ (khong tsho) (ordinary), ཁོ་རང་ཚོ (kho rang tsho) (familiar male), མོ་རང་ཚོ (mo rang tsho) (familiar female)
- Tigrinya: ንሳቶም m (nəsatom), ንሳተን f (nəsatän)
- Tlingit: hás
- Tok Pisin: ol (tpi)
- Turkish: onlar (tr)
- Turkmen: olar
- Ukrainian: вони́ (uk) (voný)
- Urdu: وہ (ve, vah), یہ (ye, yah)
- Uyghur: ئۇلار (ular)
- Uzbek: ular (uz)
- Venetian: lori (vec) m pl, lore (vec) f pl, łore, łori, łuri
- Veps: hö
- Vietnamese: họ (vi)
- Volapük: (masculine) oms (vo), (feminine) ofs (vo), (neuter or mixed gender) ons (vo)
- Welsh: (literary) hwy, (literary) hwynt, (spoken) nhw
- West Frisian: hja (fy), sy (fy), se
- Wolof: ñoom (wo)
- Yiddish: זיי (zey)
- Yoruba: (weak pronoun) wọ́n, (strong pronoun) àwọn
- Yucatec Maya: letiʼob
- Zealandic: ‘ulder, (unemphatic) ze
- Zhuang: dohde, vajde, hongminz, mbongmiz, gyoengqde
- Zulu: bona class 2 (usually for people), yona class 4, wona class 6, zona class 8, zona class 10
- ǃKung: si (people), hi (animals, things)
- ǃXóõ: ùh, (emphatic) ùhʻù
In English grammar, singular «they» is the use of the pronoun they, them, or their to refer to a singular noun or to certain indefinite pronouns (such as anybody or everyone). Also called epicene «they» and unisex «they.»
Though strict prescriptive grammarians regard the singular they as a grammatical error, it has been in widespread use for several centuries. Singular they appears in the writings of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Austen, Woolf, and many other major English authors.
In January 2016, the American Dialect Society chose the gender-neutral singular they as its Word of the Year: «They was recognized by the society for its emerging use as a pronoun to refer to a known person, often as a conscious choice by a person rejecting the traditional gender binary of he and she» (American Dialect Society press release, January 8, 2016).
Examples
- «When a person talks too much, they learn little.» (Duncan Hines, Lodging for a Night, 1938)
- «If anybody wants their admission fee back, they can get it at the door.» («Fiddler’s Dram.» Spooky South: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore, retold by S. E. Schlosser. Globe Pequot, 2004)
- «She admired the fullness of the dirty net curtains, opened every drawer and cupboard, and, when she found the Gideon’s Bible, said, ‘Somebody’s left their book behind.'» (Sue Townsend, Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction. Lily Broadway Productions, 2004)
- «She kept her head and kicked her shoes off, as everybody ought to do who falls into deep water in their clothes.» (C.S. Lewis, Voyage of the Dawn-Treader, 1952)
- «I know when I like a person directly I see them!» (Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out, 1915)
- «‘A person can’t help their birth,’ Rosalind replied with great liberality.» (William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, 1848)
Singular They and Agreement
«Examples of semantically singular they are given in [52]:
[52i] Nobody in their right mind would do a thing like that.
[52ii] Everyone has told me they think I made the right decision.
[53iii] We need a manager who is reasonably flexible in their approach.
[52iv] In that case the husband or the wife will have to give up their seat on the board.
Notice that this special interpretation of they doesn’t affect verb agreement: we have they think (3rd plural) in [ii], not *they thinks (3rd singular). Nonetheless, they can be interpreted as if it were 3rd person singular, with human denotation and unspecified gender.» (Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, A Student’s Introduction to English Grammar. Cambridge University Press, 2005)
The Growing Acceptance of Singular They
«The general hesitancy of grammarians towards accepting singular they is not actually matched by many of their academic colleagues who have researched the usage and its distribution (e.g. Bodine 1075; Whitley 1978; Jochnowitz 1982; Abbot 1984; Wales 1984b). Nor indeed is it matched by the lay native speakers of standard English, who show an overwhelming preference for it in contemporary spoken English, non-formal written English and an ever-widening spread of non-formal written registers, from journalism to administration and academic writing. . . . Singular they, in fact, has been well established in informal usage for centuries; until prescriptive grammarians decreed it was grammatically ‘incorrect,’ and so outlawed it, effectively, from (public) written discourse. The OED and Jespersen (1914) reveal, for example, that right from the time of the introduction of the indefinite pronouns into the language in their present form in the Late Middle English period, the option involving they has been in common use.» (Katie Wales, Personal Pronouns in Present-Day English. Cambridge University Press, 1996)
‘The Only Sensible Solution’
«His or her is clumsy, especially upon repetition, and his is as inaccurate with respect to grammatical gender as they is to number. Invented alternatives never take hold. Singular they already exists; it has the advantage that most people already use it.
«If it is as old as Chaucer, what’s new? The Washington Post’s style editor, Bill Walsh, has called it ‘the only sensible solution’ to the gap in English’s pronouns, changing his newspaper’s style book in 2015. But it was also the rise in the use of they as a pronoun for someone who does not want to use he or she. Facebook began already in 2014 allowing people to choose they as their preferred pronoun (‘Wish them a happy birthday!’).
Transgender stories, from The Danish Girl, a hit movie, to Caitlyn Jenner, an Olympic athlete who has become the world’s most famous trans woman, were big in 2015. But such people prefer their post-transition pronouns: he or she as desired. They is for those who prefer neither. Some non-binary people are transgender, but not all non-binary people identify as trans. But the very idea of ‘non-binary’ language with regard to gender annoys and even angers many people.
«Who knew a thousand-year-old pronoun could be so controversial?» (Prospero, «Why 2015’s Word of the Year Is Rather Singular.» The Economist, January 15, 2016).
Origin of the Concept of the Gender-Neutral Masculine Pronoun
«[I]t was [Ann] Fisher [author of A New Grammar, 1745] who promoted the convention of using he, him and his as pronouns to cover general statements irrespective of gender, such as ‘Everyone has his quirks.’ To be precise, she says that ‘The Masculine Person answers to the general Name…as, Any person who knows what he says.’ This idea caught on…The convention was bolstered by an Act of Parliament in 1850: In order to simplify the language used in other Acts, it was decreed that the masculine pronoun be understood to include all. The obvious objection to this—obvious now, even if it was not obvious then—is that it makes [all who are not men] politically invisible.» (Henry Hitchings, The Language Wars: A History of Proper English. Macmillan, 2011)
Published on
December 1, 2022
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
February 22, 2023.
The singular “they” is the use of the third-person plural pronoun they with a singular meaning—i.e., to refer to one person without using “he” or “she.”
The singular “they” has existed for hundreds of years, but it was long condemned as grammatically incorrect. Now, it’s recommended by most style guides and dictionaries as the best choice when you need a gender-neutral singular pronoun.
You can use the singular “they” to refer to:
- A generic individual whose gender is unknown or irrelevant in the context
- A specific person who identifies as neither male nor female (or whose gender is unknown to you)
I really like Jaime. They always have something interesting to say.
Table of contents
- Singular they for a generic individual
- Singular they for a specific person
- They is or they are?
- Themself or themselves?
- He or she vs. they
- It vs. they
- Avoiding ambiguity
- History of the singular they
- Frequently asked questions
Singular they for a generic individual
You can use the singular “they” when you’re making a generalization, referring to someone whose identity is unknown, or deliberately hiding the person’s gender to prevent them from being identified.
Who’s calling so early in the morning, and what do they want?
The whistleblower asked us not to publicize their identity.
If you find that the singular “they” reads awkwardly in these contexts, alternatives include pluralizing the subject of the sentence, using the impersonal pronoun “one,” or revising the sentence structure so that no pronoun is necessary.
When children turn 18, they gain various rights and responsibilities.
Upon turning 18, one gains various rights and responsibilities.
Children gain various rights and responsibilities at the age of 18.
For example, if your study deliberately included only men, it would be correct to write “We explained the goal of the research to each participant before he filled in the survey.”
Singular they for a specific person
You should use the singular “they” to refer to a person who doesn’t identify as either male or female or who otherwise indicates that this is their preference. It’s considered disrespectful to ignore someone’s preferences in this regard.
My partner loves cooking, and I sometimes help them out in the kitchen.
Is this your laptop? Morgan says it’s not theirs.
You should use the singular “they” for people who identify with it, not for everyone. When referring to a specific individual, always use their preferred pronouns, gendered or otherwise.
They is or they are?
Although “they” in these contexts is singular in meaning, it’s still used in the same way as the plural version, with plural verb forms. That means that in standard English, it’s only correct to say “they are,” not “they is.” The same applies to other verbs.
This use of plural verbs with a singular meaning sounds unnatural to some people, but these are the same verbs that are used with the second-person pronoun “you,” which is used for both the plural and the singular (e.g., “you are,” not “you is”), so it’s hard to justify the objection.
- They plays the piano well.
- They play the piano well.
- What does they think?
- What do they think?
Themself or themselves?
Because of its singular meaning, the most logical choice for a gender-neutral singular reflexive pronoun (or intensive pronoun) is “themself,” not “themselves.” This is similar to the use of “yourself” in place of “yourselves” when the meaning is singular.
However, the use of “themself” is still not universally accepted. Merriam-Webster labels it “nonstandard,” although they note that it’s becoming more widely used. APA Style endorses either “themselves” or “themself,” noting that the former is still more common.
The best advice if you’re concerned about correctness is to stick with “themselves,” but “themself” is also an acceptable choice, depending on your style guide. Always use “themselves” when the meaning is plural.
Tai just needs to trust themself/themselves.
Some people need to learn to put themselves first.
He or she vs. they
Before the use of the singular “they” became widespread, a common approach to gender inclusivity was to use a combination of masculine and feminine pronouns (e.g., “he or she,” “he/she,” “her- or himself,” “her or his”).
Most style guides now prefer the singular “they” over these formulations, for two main reasons:
- Using one word, rather than two or three, is more concise and readable.
- “He or she” is not an appropriate choice for someone whose preferred pronoun is “they.” It therefore can’t be used for a specific person, and it’s less inclusive than “they” for referring to a generic individual.
For these reasons, we also recommend using “they,” not “he or she.”
- When a user wishes to delete his/her account, he or she has to go through a three-step process.
- When a user wishes to delete their account, they have to go through a three-step process.
It vs. they
“It,” “its,” and “itself” are referred to as the neuter or inanimate pronouns. While the word “neuter” here does mean that these words are gender-neutral, they should not be used to refer to people. Referring to someone as “it” is seen as dehumanizing and very disrespectful.
Neuter pronouns are used to refer to inanimate objects, concepts, places, and sometimes animals (gendered pronouns are sometimes used instead with animals, especially pets). The correct choice for a gender-neutral pronoun for humans is the singular “they.”
- If a participant intends to withdraw from the experiment, it should inform the administrator.
- If a participant intends to withdraw from the experiment, they should inform the administrator.
Avoiding ambiguity
As with all pronouns, when using the singular “they,” make sure it is clear to whom you are referring. Since it doesn’t specify gender and can be either plural or singular, “they” can easily result in confusion. To avoid problems, you may have to rephrase.
In the first sentence below, the antecedent of “they” could plausibly be the teacher, the student, or both. In the revised version, the subject is named directly, and it is clear from context that “their work” also refers to the student.
- If the teacher is not impressed with the student’s work, they will be disappointed.
- The student will be disappointed if the teacher is not impressed with their work.
History of the singular they
Despite sometimes being criticized as an unnecessary novelty, the singular “they” has actually been used since at least the 1300s. It shows up in the work of such famous writers as Geoffrey Chaucer and Emily Dickinson.
Objections arose in the 1700s, based on the idea that a plural pronoun shouldn’t have a singular antecedent. But the same shift from plural to singular had already taken place with “you,” and we no longer see this as a problem at all. The grammarians’ complaints didn’t prevent continued use of the singular “they,” but they did stigmatize it somewhat.
It’s only recently that language authorities have actively endorsed the singular “they.” And one development is entirely new: the use of “they” to refer to specific people who identify as neither male nor female. Chaucer wouldn’t have been familiar with this usage, but that doesn’t mean it’s not helpful now.
Frequently asked questions
-
What are preferred pronouns?
-
The term preferred pronouns is used to mean the (third-person) personal pronouns a person identifies with and would like to be referred to by. People usually state the subject and object pronoun (e.g., “she/her”) but may also include the possessive (e.g., “she/her/hers”).
Most people go by the masculine “he/him,” the feminine “she/her,” the gender-neutral singular “they/them,” or some combination of these. There are also neopronouns used to express nonbinary gender identity, such as “xe/xem.” These are less common than the singular “they.”
The practice of stating one’s preferred pronouns (e.g., in a professional context or on a social media profile) is meant to promote inclusion for transgender and gender-nonconforming people. The first- and second-person pronouns (“I” and “you”) are not included, since they’re the same for everyone.
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Is “they” singular or plural?
-
They is traditionally a third-person plural pronoun, used to refer to groups of two or more people or things.
However, it’s also widely used nowadays as a singular pronoun, to refer to an individual person of unknown or nonbinary gender. This usage is referred to as the singular “they.”
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What part of speech is “they”?
-
They is a pronoun. Specifically, it’s the third-person plural subject pronoun. That means it’s used in the subject position to refer to a group of two or more people or things, as in the sentence “They went out ten minutes ago.”
The singular “they” is a term for the use of the word as a singular pronoun. In this usage it can be classed as a third-person gender-neutral (aka epicene) singular pronoun. It’s used to refer to an individual of unknown or nonbinary gender, as in the sentence “They are a friend of mine.”
Sources in this article
We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.
This Scribbr article
Caulfield, J.
(2023, February 22). Singular They | Usage, Examples & History. Scribbr.
Retrieved April 12, 2023,
from https://www.scribbr.com/nouns-and-pronouns/singular-they/
Sources
Aarts, B. (2011). Oxford modern English grammar. Oxford University Press.
Butterfield, J. (Ed.). (2015). Fowler’s dictionary of modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Show all sources (3)
Garner, B. A. (2016). Garner’s modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
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