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Cool Breeze Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Vague use of 'they'

0 Another thread and a link it provided prompted me to start this thread about the vague or inexact use of the pronoun 01i00they.02i02br
02br
01b00Faulty02b00 When Rivera applied for a resident alien card, they put him through many bureaucratic procedures.02br
00 [The sentence does not have a clear antecedent for the pronoun 01i00they.02i00]02br
02br
00In my opinion the sentence is correct English even though there is no clear antecedent for 01i00they02i00. This pronoun - and some others - are frequently used in quite a vague way in sentences such as these:02br
02br
01i01font00They02font00 speak Italian in Switzerland. 02br
02i00[True, but not all Swiss people speak Italian, so there is no 01b00clear02b00 reference; only the place is clear (Switzerland)]02br
01i01font02br
00You02font00 never know what he is after. 02br
02i00[01b00Who02b00 never knows? The person I am talking to? Some others, if so what group, where?]02br
02br
00I am sure - and I actually hope - that at least some members will disagree with me so we can have a heated discussion about the topic.05000 I would greatly appreciate it if MrPedantic took a stand on this.02br
02br
00Cheers02br
00CB010id1
  

Top answer

02br 02br 00When Rivera applied for a resident alien card, 01font 00they(=bureocrats)02font 00 put him through many bureaucratic procedures02br 02br 01i 01font 00They 00(= the (vast) majority of Swiss people)02font 00 speak Italian in Switzerland. 02i 0-

— Maya2

  • 02br 02br 00When Rivera applied for a resident alien card, 01font 00they(=bureocrats)02font 00 put him through many bureaucratic procedures02br 02br 01i 01font 00They 00(= the (vast) majority of Swiss people)02font 00 speak Italian in Switzerland.
  • 02i 0-
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3 Answers
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0Hej CB02br
02br
00IMO, the referents can be inferred from the context.02br
02br
00When Rivera applied for a resident alien card, 01font00they(=bureocrats)02font00 put him through many bureaucratic procedures02br
02br
01i01font00They 00(= the (vast) majori
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Maya212cite11i11font10They 11font10(= the (vast) majority of Swiss people)12font12font10 speak Italian in Switzerland.12i12br
12br
10'They' here just refers to some people -- it doesn't s
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Conchita5712cite11blockquote
11cite20Maya222cite21i21font20They 20(= the (vast) majority of Swiss people)22font20 speak Italian in Switzerland.22i22br
22br
20'They' here just refers to some people -- it doesn't
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