Somebody.....is a problem

No- Some people / friends are coming.

Someone, somebody is always regarded as sigular.

Interesting...
But I think you could say "Somebody is coming here and I think they are coming to kill me."
In that sentence "somebody" and "they" could mean "some people" (so they are both used as plural), but also "a person" (so they are both used as singular).

But in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary somebody is abriviated as sbd, and everywhere it is treated as plural in it.

Here is an article I’ve found in the interest of singularity and plurality. It may be helpful in answering some of the questions.

Is None Singular or Plural?

By Diane Sandford

Published

Welcome to a new feature from LLRX: a column on grammar. Grammar? Who cares about grammar? You should. How you write make

KooyeenInteresting...
But I think you could say "Somebody is coming here and I think they are coming to kill me."
In that sentence "somebody" and "they" could mean "some people" (so they are both used as plural), but also "a person" (so they are both used as singular).

Umm, GG, you quoted some stuff of mine, was there anything wrong? I used a singular verb for "somebody" and a plural verb for "they", although both refer to the same person or people. I think it's ok that way.
As for whether "they" is accepted or not, I know someone doesn't like it yet, but I decided to always use "singular they's". I had to choose, and that was my choice.

No, not at all. You are completely correct. But others who are still trying to puzzle through the singular/plural thing might be confused by the seeming conflict/contrast, so I was just expanding on it.

Interesting... But I think you could say "Somebody is coming here and I think they are coming to kill me."
In that sentence "somebody" and "they" could mean "some people" (so they are both used as plural), but also "a person" (so they are both used as singular).

somebody is singular here, and so is they are. I don't agree that somebody an

Yes,Grammar Geek.
Almost everywhere somebody has been used as plural in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Yeah, sorry, I was probably pretty sleepy GG, you were clearly just pointing out that I used a singular "they" in my example. I thought you sensed something else...

Jim said that "someone" doesn't maen "some people", but I think he was only referring to my example without context. "If I wrote a post containing an avalanche of swear words, someone here would definitely scold me for