Comments on: He, She and They

By: Johnc

Johnc — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:20:39 +0000

If you go to the supermarket in Alameda County, you will need a reusable plastic bag.

“You” could be plural or singular so you can say both without having to match them up as singular or plural.

By: KauaiRobert

KauaiRobert — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 20:12:16 +0000

mbabco:
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‘One’ being singular, ‘is’ is appropriate; not ‘are’
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As you know, there is a huge difference between how people speak and how they write.
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I’m sure I’ve uttered sentences similar to yours hundreds of times and said ‘are’ when I should’ve said ‘is’.

However, I would never write them that way.
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Go figure.
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~ALOHA~

By: mbabco

mbabco — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 08:31:31 +0000

I really don’t know which is correct.

By: mbabco

mbabco — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 08:31:07 +0000

I never am quite sure what to do when saying something like “One of the best things about the trips are the great meals.” One is singular, great meals is plural. “One of the best things about the trips is the great meals.” ????? I really don’

By: A

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 02:01:26 +0000

From what I can tell, the “singular ‘they’” is well-documented, and the “rule” that disallows using the singular “they” is unreliable:

http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/singular-they-and-the-many-reasons-why-its-correct/

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomchiversscience/100184652/if-someone-tells-you-singular-they-is-wrong-please-do-tell-them-to-get-stuffed/

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?cat=27

By: KauaiRobert

KauaiRobert — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:47:20 +0000

“If someone goes to the supermarket in Alameda County, HE OR SHE will need a reusable plastic bag.”
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Why’s that hard?
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~ALOHA~

By: Stan

Stan — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:31:47 +0000

“Hey you”… always works.

By: Terry

Terry — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:24:14 +0000

or is “anyone” still singular? Oh well.

By: Terry

Terry — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:23:21 +0000

How about “if anyone goes ………..they will need………..

By: Streetglide

Streetglide — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:09:43 +0000

Believe it’s call the neutral plural. Might be wrong but it satisfies the gender cops.

Wrong: “If someone goes to the supermarket in Alameda County, they will need a reusable plastic bag.”

Proper English: ““If my old lady takes the Camero to the Food For Less, she better gas it up and not forget the beer; and get some of them cheezy twisty thingies also.” Notice the semi-colon for emphasis.