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Newguest Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

exceptions

0Hi02br
02br
001. Someone's been taking my food again, haven't they? 02br
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002. Nobody has phoned, have they?02br
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00I know these are exceptions. However, is there any explanation why this should be so?0-
  

Top answer

0 In my humble opinion it is so because "someone" or "nobody" stands for both male(he) and female(she). 02br 00(in old english "man"01del 00he, his02del 00 was used in this case) 0-

— Pao3

  • 0 In my humble opinion it is so because "someone" or "nobody" stands for both male(he) and female(she).
  • 02br 00(in old english "man"01del 00he, his02del 00 was used in this case) 0-
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5 Answers
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0 In my humble opinion it is so because "someone" or "nobody" stands for both male(he) and female(she). Therefore we use "they" so we stay gender neutral...02br
00(in old english "man"01del00he, his02del00 was used in this case) 0-
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0 Hi,02br
00why are thy exceptions? What's wrong?02br
00Oh, are you referring to "they"? In that case, it's often used as a singular pronoun when you don't know someone's ***, so it's usually used with "someone", "no one", "anyone", etc. Some people don't accept that "they" is used that way, and will tell you it's wrong and you should use "his or her" instead, especially
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0Exceptions to what? 05002br
02br
00Anyway, the verb in the first part of the sentences is singular because "someone" and "nobody" are singular. In the second part, "they" is used as a ***-neutral pronoun, and since it is plural, the verb is as well. 010id2
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0 LOL, three simultaneous answers... 0-
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0You were really fast guys 05000 Thanks!010id1
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