Comments on Does using plural form for singular object make sense?
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Does using plural form for singular object make sense?
Some people use they/them if they can't identity gender/sex (gender and sex isn't same). But when mentioning a single person should we use plural pronoun?
We know that "they/them" is plural form. But "he/she" is singular form. Recently, a person was telling me to use they/them if I don't know (or identify) his/her gender. But why plural form make sense for singular person?
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One misconception: They/them has not been strictly plural for quite a long time. Even Shakespeare used it.
There's not a man I meet but doth salute me / as if I were their well-acquainted friend
(From Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, written sometime around the late sixteenth century)
Using they as a singular pronoun is perfectly fine, especially when you don't know the gender of the person (or when they are non-binary).
Historically, of course, "they" is plural. That is why it goes with the plural conjunction of verbs - "they are" and not "they is". However, the same can be said for "you" (which was also historically plural, with the singular being "thou"), and I don't think any modern speaker would ever argue that "you" cannot be singular. This just to say, history does not dictate modern language. Many authoritative English guides[1] accept it (at least informally), so if you look to them, then you should feel free to use it.
On another note, one thing that doesn't yet have a consensus is whether the singular referential should be "themselves" or "themself". The former is the historical one, the latter the more logical one.
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