Quote:
Originally Posted by Jessica.
I want to hear some opinions on the following words; they, them, their, themselves.
It's hard to explain so I will paste some things from wikipedia. 
A reason for its use is that English has no dedicated singular personal pronoun of indeterminate gender.
Though singular they has a long history of usage and is common in everyday English, its use has been criticized since the late nineteenth century, and acceptance varies.
Technically if we are talking about someone whose gender is not known we are supposed to use "he", but using "they" has become a loophole to that. Some people I've spoken to disagree with the usage of it but I am wondering if anyone else has put any thought into it.
Here is an example;
Generic he: When I greet a friend I hug him.
Singular they: When I greet a friend I hug them.
Technically both of these sentences mean the same thing but I feel like it's extremely outdated to use "generic he", I would always use "they" in this situation, although some people would say I am ridiculous. |
Technically Jessica, the last usage is wrong.
It is fine to use 'them' if you had written: "When I greet
friends I hug
them." But you cannot use the plural 'Them' for the singular 'Friend'.
Although it's been 2,000 years since I passed my English Language GCE.
