Is singular they correct?

"They" is non-specific. It doesn't give you info about how many. "They did not agree to the terms of the contract." That sentence could mean one person, a group of people, a company or government did not agree. All are acceptable. This is both the benefit and pitfall of using it in a sentence.

Yes, it's been in use for centuries!

I was writing this: "Let's take an average young adult who considers himself..." I don't want to refers specifically to a man but people in general, could I used "Let's take an average young adult who considers * themself *"?

Yup, it's very common in everyday speak. "Susan took out the trash and they made sure to sort out the recyclables." "Oh, that's a cute baby, what's their name?" "They did WHAT?"

Yes it is accepted. Even before the modern discourse on pronouns it has always been in use without people thinking about it if they are talking about a person of unspecified gender. If you're not sure then it's standard to use "they". "He or she" is outdated. [Take for instance this viral ironic tweet from a bigot](https://preview.redd.it/zgg8r6ci4qt81.jpg?auto=webp&s=1dce73d2aac52433b7d01a1d8e0a0dc0f39f3673) *"Any English teacher that teaches "they/them" as a singular pronoun should lose their teaching license"* Did you catch what they did there at the end? It flows so naturally they didn't realize it.

It's been used by English speakers for centuries. Shakespeare used they as a singular pronoun: [https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general\_writing/grammar/pronouns/gendered\_pronouns\_and\_singular\_they.html](https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/pronouns/gendered_pronouns_and_singular_they.html)

It is, but it might confuse people who think about pronouns too much

Yes. I've always used it when I am uncertain of the gender of a person I am referring to.

Used to be considered nonstandard (my SAT books from 2008 said to use "he or she"/"him or her"), but over time it's become accepted speech and even standard. Some of it due to growing acceptance of non-binary gender identities, but I assume it's also largely because it just sounds less clunky than "he or she"/"him or her". (And as others have mentioned, it's as old as even Shakespeare) It can refer to a non-binary person, but it's also often used to refer to indefinite persons or persons of unknown gender. "If an employee wishes to take vacation, they need to let their manager know in advance". (Indefinite) "My daughter made a new friend at school." "Oh! What's their name?" (Unknown gender)

Yes, it is correct to use singular they. It is again in widespread and increasing use because our language needs a singular, non-gendered pronoun. Prescriptivists have only a hundred years of precedent for plural they, and before that, and at least back to the 1400's, as per google, both they and you were used both in the singular and plural.

Yes. In the case of a person whose gender you don't know, you can address them as "they" and it would be grammatically correct.

yes

It's generally accepted, and most people thing it's "correct", although some people hate it. It's become more common in the last 20 years or so. Up until the 80s/90s, it was more common to say "he" when referring to an unknown person, but people objected to that. People might say, "When you call the plumber, make sure you get his name" - somewhat *assuming* that the plumber would be a male... which he *most likely* was, because sexism was more prevalent. But people have shifted their approach - it's the same reason that we no longer (usually) refer to female actors as actresses, and why "police officer" is preferred over "policeman", and why "postmen" have become "postal workers". See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they

Yes, both politically and grammatically. Some grammarians will try to claim it's not correct but they are plain wrong. However, it can be confusing at certain times.

Just please don’t use singular “they” with a singular verb. Seriously. Please don’t. Context is enough.

Yes. It's been used that way for ages.

You still use the correct plural verb form with it. However, yes, you can use it casually to refer to one person if you don't know if they're a boy or girl. It's very handy for getting out of tough situations as a teenager when you tell your parents about a new "friend" you have, and you don't want them to know that it's actually a secret boy youre hiding lol.

Very. It’s arguably one of the most common pronouns in the whole language. If you aren’t sure on gender but are sure it’s human, use they. That’s the rule, and I’m happy to say this is one rule in English that is the exception to the exception rule. It is never broken(bc if it was “they” wouldn’t have meaning).

Yes. It’s become acceptable in all registers of English within the past thirty or forty years. Some people will even insist it’s the only acceptable generic pronoun, inclusive of non-binary gender.

'They' referring to a single person is usually used when you do not know the gender of the person. For example: Jim: "looks like someone stole your jacket." Bob: "yeah... they sure did." However in the last couple of decades there has been a fad of people, usually teenagers or in their early 20's referring to themselves as "non-binary" and believe that it is okay to shame others into referring to them with the gender-neutral 'they'. Really, they just want the title to sound special without actually doing anything special to earn it. I mean, if I told you that I am a god and that you are being disrespectful if you didn't refer to me as one, would you do it? You know it's true! Now... downvote away XD

Yes it is.

Yes. It's been part of English for centuries. Some people don't like it, but you can generally ignore them.

I have a question…what to do with the be verb? If they is considered singular in the context, do I still use are or is? Or do/does?

Using "they" to refer to an unknown individual has been around for an extremely long time. No one currently alive was born before it started being commonly used that way (unless vampires are real and/or something else like that 🤪). Using "they" to refer to a known individual is relatively new (with a few anecdotal exceptions in the last few hundred years or so, IIRC). Those who claim otherwise are gaslighting, although they might not all be aware that that's what they're doing. There's some good info at the following link, as well as a lot of off-topic comments, unfortunately: [https://www.reddit.com/r/grammar/comments/1j97c56/historical\_statistics\_on\_the\_use\_of\_they\_to\_refer/](https://www.reddit.com/r/grammar/comments/1j97c56/historical_statistics_on_the_use_of_they_to_refer/)

yes

It is considered correct now, but you'd be hard pressed to find it 30 years ago. If you are looking at older literature, you'll find situations where you might see some odd sentence construction where "they" would be used now. Personally, I don't like it. I think a new pronoun for singular ambiguous person (not "it"), but I also want to bring back second person singular. I'm probably in the minority on both.

It depends on who you ask. Growing up, my peers naturally used "they" singularly, especially if they (the person, singular) aren't immediately in the conversation, but it used to be taught that using "they" in this manner is incorrect. I remember teachers getting mad in elementary school for years because they (the teachers, plural) couldn't teach it out of us. I don't know how regional that is though. I also don't have kids, so I don't know what's being taught anymore, but it's been drifting for years towards it being acceptable to use "they" and "them" singularl.

We already have an unambiguously singular gender neutral pronoun: "IT".

Singular they is correct, but less descriptive than he or she.

Yes. It's been a part of English for generations. Anyone suggesting otherwise is ignorant.

Yes, and it has been part of English longer than the singular "you".

Singular they is correct, and pretty ubiquitous in casual language, even sometimes when the gender of the person is a known quantity, just to break up repetition if you're using a pronoun often.

Depends on how you use it. It can be or not. When used to identify a person you are not familiar with is when it is used. For example someone’s family friend you don’t know. “Yes they are welcome to come if you would like”. This doesn’t work if you are talking about a sibling for example who you know. You wouldn’t call your brother or sister a they. It’s used when you do not know if you are talking about a man or a woman so in your example “let’s take an average young adult who considers themselves…” could be accurate if you are referring to both young men and women. You would only himself/herself if you were specifically talking about only men/women respectively.

Singular they is only "correct" when the identity of the person to whom one is referring is unknown. If the identity is know, then you look at the three singular options: 1. "she" for a female person 2. "he" for all other persons 3. "it" for a non-person

No It's a very recent form of slang that is being pushed over it and one, both standard, commonly accepted ways of referring to a person throughout English history. In fact, when someone knocks on a door, it's still common to hear: "Who is ***it*** ?" " ***It's*** me." Or other cases such as: "Is ***it*** a boy or a girl?" "Who was ***it*** who did the crime?" " ***It*** was the king." (Yes, "it" supersedes titles and positions) " ***It*** is I." " ***It*** shall be me." Remember, "it" and "they" are the same word, but "it" is the singular and "they" is plural. Essentially "they" means the subjects in question aren't even unique. What one has done by oneself will make one stronger than any other. One is also a method of referring to an individual, the the additional context of referring to oneself. Ah, I should clarify. English usually refers to either the speaker, or someone other than the speaker. "One" uniquely may be applied to both at the same time, which is why it is so often used in sayings such as the one before. If one says something, then one may mean oneself or any other. Another way to follow this is to follow the full sentence as below: "If some***one*** does something, then one should stick to it." It's common slang for people to fail to maintain the subject reference, but "someone" is always followed formally by "one" in proper English, just as tenses are. It is just as informal to say "I will gone to the store." as this swaps tense for no reason (but you will see poor English like that all over the internet).