Assuming maybe wrongfully that they are a man, (i’m uncomfortable with the use of they/them to designate a singular person, english isn’t my first language), yeah, I’m seriously impressed by his patience and kindness.
I felt so ashamed to give small answers to him that one time he corrected me with a very understandable and precise paragraph, that I actually became motivated to read a bit of theory.
Using “they” for a singular person has been used since at least the 14th century, so there’s no need to feel uncomfortable with it. I highly recommend reading the Wikipedia page on Singular they, which touches on its history.
A similar example is “you.” “You” used to be only a plural, with “thou” being the singular, but over time it fell out of fashion and now “you” can be used as singular or plural, like how “they” can be singular or plural.
Singular “they” was criticised by some people hundreds of years after it started being used. But language cannot be prescribed; it is determined by how people use it.
Oh, thank you for the info, but when i said that I am uncomfortable with that pronoun, i said it in the sense “I’m not used to this pronoun and don’t know how to use it properly”.
If I understood well, it can be used like he-his, she-her, they-theirs? I gotta use gender neutral pronouns more often. Sounds better than “it-its”
Yep, they/them/theirs is used in the same place as he/him/his or she/her/hers. It/it/its should not be used for people unless someone explicitly says those are their preferred pronouns. “It” is typically used for objects and non-human animals, so it could be seen as rude to refer to a human as “it.” If unsure, use they/them.
Assuming maybe wrongfully that they are a man, (i’m uncomfortable with the use of they/them to designate a singular person, english isn’t my first language), yeah, I’m seriously impressed by his patience and kindness.
I felt so ashamed to give small answers to him that one time he corrected me with a very understandable and precise paragraph, that I actually became motivated to read a bit of theory.
That’s what i call a good influencer.
Using “they” for a singular person has been used since at least the 14th century, so there’s no need to feel uncomfortable with it. I highly recommend reading the Wikipedia page on Singular they, which touches on its history.
A similar example is “you.” “You” used to be only a plural, with “thou” being the singular, but over time it fell out of fashion and now “you” can be used as singular or plural, like how “they” can be singular or plural.
Singular “they” was criticised by some people hundreds of years after it started being used. But language cannot be prescribed; it is determined by how people use it.
Oh, thank you for the info, but when i said that I am uncomfortable with that pronoun, i said it in the sense “I’m not used to this pronoun and don’t know how to use it properly”.
If I understood well, it can be used like he-his, she-her, they-theirs? I gotta use gender neutral pronouns more often. Sounds better than “it-its”
Oh that makes sense, sorry I misunderstood!
Yep, they/them/theirs is used in the same place as he/him/his or she/her/hers. It/it/its should not be used for people unless someone explicitly says those are their preferred pronouns. “It” is typically used for objects and non-human animals, so it could be seen as rude to refer to a human as “it.” If unsure, use they/them.
The correct pronoun is the preferred pronoun.
Some apps don’t display modified usernames, so it would just show “cowbee” instead of “cowbee [he/they]”
Ah, I sit corrected, my apologies to /u/@[email protected]