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The following quotes are from the Wikipedia article. It seems to me that they all use "they" for a generic person. For example, in the Chesterfield's example: "If a person is born of a . . . gloomy temper . . . they cannot help it.", "a person" appears to be singular but it represents any person. It is essentially plural.

'Tis meet that some more audience than a mother, since nature makes them partial, should o'erhear the speech."— Shakespeare, Hamlet (1599);

"If a person is born of a . . . gloomy temper . . . they cannot help it."— Chesterfield, Letter to his son (1759);

"Now nobody does anything well that they cannot help doing"— Ruskin, The Crown of Wild Olive (1866); "Nobody in their senses would give sixpence on the strength of a promissory note of the kind."— Bagehot, The Liberal Magazine (1910);

"I would have every body marry if they can do it properly."— Austen, Mansfield Park (1814);

Caesar: "No, Cleopatra. No man goes to battle to be killed." Cleopatra: "But they do get killed" —Shaw, Caesar and Cleopatra (1901);

"A person can't help their birth."— W. M. Thackeray, Vanity Fair (1848);

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another . . ." —United States Declaration of Independence;

My question Is the use of singular they in the following passage grammatically correct?

Someone was approaching my room. I could see that they were alone judging from their footsteps. They knocked on my door. I didn't answer. They knocked again. I still didn't answer so they left.

ivanhoescott
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  • @RossPresser If it's duplicate, where is the answer to my question in that thread? – ivanhoescott Apr 02 '14 at 15:56
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    It's perfectly grammatical. – Peter Shor Apr 03 '14 at 01:13
  • @PeterShor Could you explain why you think so? – ivanhoescott Apr 03 '14 at 01:33
  • @ivanhoescott: it's the accepted answer in the first duplicate. "Singular they enjoys a long history of usage in English ... However, “singular they” also enjoys a long history of criticism." – Ross Presser Apr 04 '14 at 19:14
  • @RossPresser Do you realize that the historical examples of singular they and the example of my question are essentially different? – ivanhoescott Apr 05 '14 at 01:55
  • Someone is impersonal, hence the following use of they in the text does not reveal their sex to us. The author could have written "He or she knocked again" if their (his or her!) aim was to keep the person's identity a secret for longer. Using "he or she" "he/she" "s/he" variants is clumsy, especially in literature. Nowadays the singular they is very easily understood but when I am preparing students for an English exam I tell them to either stick to one gender or use both only in those cases where they can avoid repeating "he or she" several times. – Mari-Lou A Apr 06 '14 at 10:22
  • http://english.stackexchange.com/a/6855/44619 I particularly liked Robusto's answer. And I believe it answers your question perfectly. In the end it is a question of personal style and taste. See this person's answer and how he used he/she and his/her, do you prefer this approach? http://english.stackexchange.com/a/161944/44619 – Mari-Lou A Apr 06 '14 at 10:30
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    @ivanhoescott: No, I don't see how it's different; nor do I see why it's so important to you to get an answer specifically to your instance. The answer to the generic "Should I use singular they?" is "Lots of people have used it and lots of people have criticized it. If you use it, you will be supported by many and criticized by many others. Please stop wasting our time on StackExchange." – Ross Presser Apr 06 '14 at 19:44
  • @Mari-LouA So are you saying that the use of singular they in my example is OK? In other words, it has no grammatical problem? – ivanhoescott Apr 07 '14 at 00:56
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    I'm not falling in that trap! :) As I said previously, in an exam and for formal correspondence, I'd avoid the singular they because as Ross Presser pointed out, people are divided on the issue. But if you were writing an email to a native speaker, the use of they to speak about someone is perfectly fine. Robusto's answer, I repeat, strikes the right balance. Your second quote from the author Chesterfield, is an example of they being used in informal correspondence, between "he or she", and "they" I'd opt for the latter in this case. – Mari-Lou A Apr 07 '14 at 06:01
  • http://english.stackexchange.com/a/55466/44619 This answer lists the advantages and disadvantages of gender pronouns well. – Mari-Lou A Apr 07 '14 at 06:17
  • @RossPresser [No, I don't see how it's different;] I have no idea why you don't see it. All the historical examples use singular they for generic person. On the other hand, my example uses it for a specific person. This is a big difference. – ivanhoescott Apr 08 '14 at 02:24
  • @ivanhoescott Eight years later, I now see your difference; but your example, while it is about one specific person that can be distinguished from all other persons, it is still about a person whose gender is unknown at the time of speaking (or at least unimportant to the content of the sentence). – Ross Presser Apr 28 '22 at 19:40

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