Hello !
I’m aware of the lemmy.ml @dessalines@lemmy.ml, and I’m not sure if this other other lemmy.tedomum.net @dessalines@lemmy.tedomum.net is just an impersonation through another instance.
Not sure, so asking…
Hello !
I’m aware of the lemmy.ml @dessalines@lemmy.ml, and I’m not sure if this other other lemmy.tedomum.net @dessalines@lemmy.tedomum.net is just an impersonation through another instance.
Not sure, so asking…
ohh, not my intention, sorry about that. “They” is plural though, and I was referring to a particular individual, and “it” sounded non human… I’ll try improving. BTW, non native English speaker either, hehe, so thanks !
The singular version of they emerged about 100 years after the word was first termed. While some editors had strong opinions about the singular they from the 14th to 18th centuries, some very notable authors during this time such as Shakespeare disagreed (as evidenced by his use of the singular they throughout his works). It was rarely contested as grammatically correct until society became more aware of people who were using it to define their gender identity and transgender individuals found themselves in the public spotlight with their rights being contested. Unsurprisingly the only people contesting whether it is grammatically proper today are the very same people who do not believe that transgender people deserve the same rights.
This is totally new to me, and to be honest, habits are hard to break, so I’ll try to use singular “they” when not sure. Basic/cheap English grammar lessons for non native English speakers never teach you anything about singular “they”. How sad, cause then one who tries to write/speak as best as possible, might not be correct because of how they got to learn a bit of English.
I know this will sound as blasphemy, but what I’ve read from Skakespeare, I’ve did in Castellano, hehe, so I wouldn’t notice what you mentioned. Good to know.
Honestly, not all that surprising. In many cases where you wouldn’t necessarily know the gender, its when referring to someone by their profession. For example, if you were referring to the person who brought your mail to remark upon the poor handling of a package, you might simply say the mail carrier didn’t treat this with care, instead of they didn’t treat this with care. The vast majority of native English speakers probably use the singular they in passing, but I would be surprised if it’s more often than a few times per month.
For what it’s worth you’re doing a wonderful job. Another strategy that I see less often, but am pointing out because you just used the word, is de-gendering language by using indefinite articles, such as ‘one’. Glad to know I’m not the only person who sometimes uses English in this fashion.
I would be more surprised if you didn’t read Shakespeare in your native language and I certainly don’t think it’s blasphemy. I’ve read plenty of famous works that were translated to English. We don’t all have time to respect it in its natural form, more so if it’s constructed with archaic grammar and full of words long since abandoned. Most of the Shakespeare I read in school wasn’t in the original form either, and had at least some amount of restructured words and grammar.
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I’ve always used “they” when referring to a single person, never really noticed I was doing it, however my mum also insists that “they” is plural.