Singular they: Difference between revisions

Although the singular they has been used in English informally for centuries, some grammarians have questioned its use based around arguments of grammatical correctness and formality. One of the main points of contention made by grammarians is that the singular they still acts grammatically as a plural would when acting upon verbs (which they consider to be unacceptable). Despite these concerns, which became particularly prominent during and after the 19th century, the singular they is documented to have been used by Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Oxford English Dictionary, Louis Carroll, C. S. Lewis, among others.<ref>Henry Churchyard, "Singular 'Their' in Jane Austen and Elsewhere." http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html</ref> Ever since the end of the 20th century, the singular they has been growing in both formal and informal usage to serve different purposes, and is generally in standard use today.

The grammarian A. Knutson notes in his 1905 book ''The Gender of Words Denoting Living Beings in English, and the Different Ways of Expressing Difference in Sex'' the use of the singular they as a gender neutral term, pulling a quote from a magazine of the time:<blockquote>The privilege of addressing the sovereign when he or she came to dine... after ''their'' coronation.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/genderofwordsden00knutrich|title=The Gender of Words Denoting Living Beings in English, and the Different Ways of Expressing Difference in Sex|last=Knutson|first=A.|publisher=Håkan Ohlsson|others=|year=1905|location=Lund|pages=3-4}}</ref></blockquote>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.

Many official writing style guides and dictionaries approve the usage of singular "they" (for both "generic person" use and for writing about nonbinary people), including the MLA, the APA, and Merriam-Webster's.<ref name="MLA">{{Cite web |title=How do I use singular ''they?'' |author= |work=The MLA Style Center |date= |access-date=8 February 2021 |url= https://style.mla.org/using-singular-they/ }}</ref><ref name="APA">{{Cite web |title=Singular "they" |author= |work=APA Style |date=September 2019 |access-date=8 February 2021 |url= https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar/singular-they}}</ref>

* '''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>

* 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 Becky Chambers' novel A Psalm for the Wild-Built, the monk protagonist, Sibling Dex, is referred to with they/them pronouns. <ref>Linda Codega, "An Elegy for the Rest of Us: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers" https://www.tor.com/2021/07/13/book-reviews-a-psalm-for-the-wild-built-becky-chambers/</ref>

* 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>

* "Singular they" has been the most popular pronoun in the Gender Census, at 74% acceptance in 2015,<ref>cassolotl, "Nonbinary Stats 2015 (worldwide) - the results." February 20, 2015. http://cassolotl.tumblr.com/post/111585517125</ref> rising to 77% in 2016,<ref>cassolotl (Nonbinary Stats), "NB/GQ Survey 2016 - the worldwide results." March 2016. http://gendercensus.tumblr.com/post/141311159050/nbgq-survey-2016-the-worldwide-results</ref> and rising again to 80% in 2017.<ref>Gender Census, "NB/GQ Survey 2017 - the worldwide results." May 2017. http://gendercensus.tumblr.com/post/160656902130/nbgq-survey-2017-the-worldwide-results</ref> In 2018, the pronoun fell down to 77.4%.<ref name="census2018">Gender Census 2019 - The Full Report (Worldwide)https://gendercensus.com/post/183832246805/gender-census-2019-the-full-report-worldwide</ref>