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Hrsanei Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

PLural or singular

Hi.

I am confused with the use of plural or singular.

in the following sentense I wonder if we can use they and them refering to a person.

we meet a person, they have an impact on our lives and on our very selves.

the full context is as follows for your review:



For days I was thinking to myself that why we come to love a person. I think this love is a kind of appreciation we have for the people who play a great part in our lives. We meet a person; they have an impact on our lives and on our very selves; then to show our appreciation and thankfulness, we start loving them.

I would be thankful if you could let me know if you come across any mistakes in the above paragraph apart from the aforementioned issue.

Thanks
  

Top answer

You can use 'they/them' for the 3rd person singular unisex pronoun, but it is still frowned upon by some teachers in formal writing. It is often a better idea to re-cast the noun referrent into plural and avoid the problem: For days I was wondering why we come to love others . I think this love is a kind of appreciation we have for those who play a great part in our lives.

— Mister Micawber

  • You can use 'they/them' for the 3rd person singular unisex pronoun, but it is still frowned upon by some teachers in formal writing.
  • It is often a better idea to re-cast the noun referrent into plural and avoid the problem: For days I was wondering why we come to love others .
  • I think this love is a kind of appreciation we have for those who play a great part in our lives.
  • We meet them, they have an impact on our lives , and then to show our appreciation and gratitude , we start loving them.
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2 Answers
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You can use 'they/them' for the 3rd person singular unisex pronoun, but it is still frowned upon by some teachers in formal writing. It is often a better idea to re-cast the noun referrent into plural and avoid the problem:

For days I was wondering why we come to love others. I think this love is a kind of appreciation we have for those who play a great p
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