Comments on: The Singular “They”

By: Karen Wingate

Karen Wingate — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:25:39 +0000

I agree with Susan and Sonia. When in doubt, rewrite.

By: Jim Rubart

Jim Rubart — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:46:34 +0000

Liking your thoughts, but I’m having a bit of trouble keeping up with your massive volume of posts.

By: Christine H

Christine H — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:39:23 +0000

Oh, and “there’s” is so prevalent now that I hear celebrities and TV commentators use it all the time. I have even seen it in print in advertising for major companies.

Same with who/whom.

By: Christine H

Christine H — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:37:18 +0000

I tend to use “his or her” when writing, but “they” when speaking.

I find this much less troublesome than the common misuse of who/whom, or using “There’s” in reference to plural items.

“There’s some cups on the table” just sends me into fits… and I even catch myself doing it! So I am constantly correcting myself and it goes like this…”There’s – there are – some cups on the table.”

My fear is that my young son will think that “There’s there are” is the correct way to denote plural objects!

By: Rosslyn

Rosslyn — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:26:58 +0000

I’m going to be a conscientious objector on this one. Though I have succumbed to using the singular “they” sometimes in spoken communication, I don’t like it. Not one bit. Language is a system, like math. I like the beauty and order of the system.

Can’t we all just switch to “hir?”

By: Adam Heine

Adam Heine — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:54:17 +0000

I like this post. I prefer clarity and flow over grammatical correctness myself. (Though obviously I prefer to achieve all three!).

In the first example, using ‘his’ puts the husband in my mind. A mild confusion, I admit, but potential confusion nonetheless. Whereas using ‘their’ produces no confusion. It communicates what is meant without resorting to the awkward ‘he or she’.

By: Angela Townsend

Angela Townsend — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:02:55 +0000

I considered the singular “they” a serious grammatical error until I worked as a reporter for a local newspaper. The editor himself used “they” and “their” instead of “his or her.” I still can’t bring myself to use a plural pronoun to modify a singular subject. Written or spoken, the sentence just sounds wrong. I have on occasion used the archaic “he” when “his/her” is too awkward or distracting. Thanks for the discussion!

By: Joel Q

Joel Q — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:02:42 +0000

Next to be accepted is “over” instead of “more than”

By: Sonja Hutchinson

Sonja Hutchinson — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:32:16 +0000

It’d probably be easiest to re-write the sentence so you don’t have to worry about getting the pronoun wrong.

By: Daniel Smith

Daniel Smith — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:43:56 +0000

How about using “the partner’s”, “the person’s” or simply “the” in the blank. It avoids all the problems.

Using “the” is perhaps the best since the reaction will be assumed to refer to the partner anyway.

By: Lenore Buth

Lenore Buth — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:22:41 +0000

Thank you, Steve, for digging into this. I’m working on another nonfiction book for moms. So often I write “they,” then change it to “his or her,” then to “s/he.” All the while I wonder which one will brand me as an unschooled hack. I agree, the “singular they” seems to be here to stay–and eliminates all that angst. Yet when I’m writing, my ear hears the traditionalother terms. Somehow it’s comforting to know that Shakespeare, etc., emmployed that terminology way back when.

By: Susan at StonyRiver

Susan at StonyRiver — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:14:13 +0000

Interesting about the history of the ‘singular they’, and its use by Shakespeare and Austen. I really enjoyed this article but must admit I still find this usage jarring for some reason, and never use it. And, whatever happened to “one’s”?

So I would have answered your quotes with “When a spouse greets a partner with derision because of an opinion, what should the reaction be?” and “Everyone in the building attended the party and had a wonderful time.” Avoidance. lol

Thanks again — I’m looking forward to a few conversations over this one.