Singular they

2017-12-03T15:02:06Z

2602:306:3793:4460:89E7:575:135E:8789: Traditional grammar, and therefore grammarians, have chosen gender of pronouns to match the sex (which is physical) of the person rather than the gender (which is psychological and a matter of self-identification). So 'sex' is more accurate here.

'''Singular they''' is the standard English gender neutral pronoun for any individual whose gender is unknown or unspecified. For this reason, "they" pronouns are one of the three most popular pronouns used for real nonbinary people, as shown in surveys (see below).

== Grammatical concerns ==
Grammarians question and debate the validity of also using this set as "singular they," a gender-neutral pronoun for an individual whose sex isn't specified, because they feel unsatisfied by how it still works grammatically like a plural. (Similar to how we say "you are," even when referring to a singular "you.") However, "singular they" has been common usage in English for over a thousand years, as attested by many written documents. It was used so by Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Oxford English Dictionary, Louis Carroll, C. S. Lewis, and others. Grammaticians only recently decided that it was ungrammatical to use in the singular, because it is still used with verbs as though it was a plural.<ref>Henry Churchyard, "Singular 'Their' in Jane Austen and Elsewhere." http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html</ref> Though the grammar may be questionable, it is still standard use today.

Singular "they" gets a surprising number of complaints, considering people use it all the time for people whose gender is unknown. However, there are a lot of arguments that it's correct. [http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/singular-they-and-the-many-reasons-why-its-correct/ This article on Motivated Grammar] goes through a few reasons, including the fact that it's consistently been in use since Chaucer's time, around 1400. Most people are familiar with how singular "they" works, as plenty of people use it all the time without really thinking about it.

A most comprehensive article about the history of singular "they" is Henry Churchyard's web-page, [http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html Singular 'Their' in Jane Austen and Elsewhere].

== Forms ==
The forms of "singular they" are '''they, them, their, theirs, themselves (themself, theirself, theirselves)'''.

* '''Nominative''': When I tell someone a joke ''they'' laugh.
* '''Accusative''': When I greet a friend I hug ''them''.
* '''Pronominal possessive''': When someone does not get a haircut, ''their'' hair grows long.
* '''Predicative possessive''': If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow ''theirs''.
* '''Reflexive''': Each child feeds ''themself''. Or: each child feeds ''theirself''. Or: each child feeds ''theirselves''. Or: each child feeds ''themselves''. (See below for information on how this form's standard use varies by dialect.)

'''On Pronoun Island''': http://pronoun.is/they
'''On Pronouny''': http://pronouny.xyz/pronouns/593c1223975dfa1000d4ec86

=== Reflexive form variants ===
There are several versions of the reflexive form of this pronoun: "themself," "theirself," "theirselves," and "themselves."

* '''Themself.''' The Oxford Dictionary says that "themself" has been used since the 14th century for a person of unknown sex.<ref>"Themself." Oxford Dictionaries. https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/themself</ref>
* '''Theirself, theirselves.''' Dictionary.com says that "theirself" has also been used for this since about 1300.<ref>"Theirself." ''Dictionary.com''. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theirself</ref> The Free Dictionary adds that "theirself" and "theirselves" are more common in southern and midland US English.<ref>"Theirselves." ''The Free Dictionary''. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/theirself</ref>
Because both "themself" and "theirself" are for talking about a single person, they're both considered non-standard or informal usage, despite the hundreds of years of common usage. The plural form of "themselves" is supposed to be more formal, but can sound strange when used for a single person, because they are not several "selves," but one "self". This is another part of the plural/singular "they" problem.

People differ about which version of the reflexive form they prefer. If someone asks to be called by "they" pronouns, it might be a good idea to ask which form of the reflexive form they prefer.

== Singular they in use in fiction for nonbinary characters ==
* In a short sci-fi story by Benjanun Sriduangkaew, "[http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/sriduangkaew_12_13/ Silent Bridge, Pale Cascade]" (2013), one of the characters is described as a "neutrois," and called by "they" pronouns.<ref>Alex Dally MacFarlane, "Post-Binary Gender in SF: ExcitoTech and Non-Binary Pronouns." June 3, 2014. ''Tor''. http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/06/post-binary-gender-in-sf-excitotech-and-non-binary-pronouns</ref><ref>Benjanun Sriduangkaew, "Silent Bridge, Pale Cascade." Clarkesworld Magazine. 2013. http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/sriduangkaew_12_13/</ref>
* In Kameron Hurley's fantasy novel, Empire Ascendant, all people in a consent culture get to choose which of the five gender roles they identify with. Hurley calls characters who are "ungendered" by singular they pronouns.<ref>Kameron Hurley, "Beyond He-Man and She-Ra: Writing nonbinary characters." https://intellectusspeculativus.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/guest-post-beyond-he-man-she-ra-writing-non-binary-characters-by-kameron-hurley/</ref>
* In K. A. Cook's anthology Crooked Words, the character Chris asks to be called by "they" pronouns. Chris is in the short stories "Blue Paint, Chocolate and Other Similes" and "Everything In A Name."<ref>K. A. Cook, ''Crooked Words''. Unpaged.</ref>

== Singular they in use for real nonbinary people ==
* Some notable nonbinary people who ask to be called by "singular they" pronouns include writer [[Nonbinary celebrities#Ivan Coyote|Ivan E. Coyote]], actor [[Nonbinary celebrities#Tom Phelan|Tom Phelan]], actor [[Nonbinary celebrities#Jiz Lee|Jiz Lee]], singer-songwriter [[Nonbinary celebrities#Rae Spoon|Rae Spoon]], and rapper [[Nonbinary celebrities#Raeen Roes|Raeen Roes]].
* Deborah Rogers mentions having a trans male student who asked to be called by "they" pronouns.<ref> Deborah Rogers, "'They' has arrived at the pronoun party." December 4, 2014. ''Times Higher Education''. http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/comment/opinion/they-has-arrived-at-the-pronoun-party/2017278.article#.VIHr5bJE0lk.facebook</ref>
* In the 2015 Nonbinary Stats survey, "singular they" was the most popular pronoun: 74% of the nonbinary respondents asked to be called by "they" (2159 out of 2901 responses).<ref>cassolotl, "Nonbinary Stats 2015 (worldwide) - the results." February 20, 2015. http://cassolotl.tumblr.com/post/111585517125</ref>
* In the 2016 Nonbinary Stats survey, "singular they" got the highest number of people happy for others to refer to them using "they", 77%.<ref>cassolotl (Nonbinary Stats), "NB/GQ Survey 2016 - the worldwide results." March 2016. http://nonbinarystats.tumblr.com/post/141311159050/nbgq-survey-2016-the-worldwide-results</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Pronouns]]
* [[English neutral pronouns]]
* [[Gender neutral language in English]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html Singular 'Their' in Jane Austen and Elsewhere]
* [http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/singular-they-and-the-many-reasons-why-its-correct/ Motivated Grammar: Singular they and the many reasons why it's correct]
* [http://www.pronouns.failedslacker.com/?subjective=they&object=them&possDet=their&possPro=theirs&reflexive=themself&name=Ash&person=wanderer&plural=on Examples of use in Pronoun Dressing Room]. You can try different variations on the pronouns, such as the variant reflexive forms, and see how they can work in sentences excerpted from classic fiction.

== References ==
<references />
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Singular they