[Jessica.]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

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.

Well, that's the whole point of the thread, would you say him rather than them, for that? If you are not talking about a specific person or someone you aren't disclosing the gender of?