Accepting "they" as Both Plural and Singular

By Amy S. Johnson

“Like life forms, languages are always changing.” (McWhorter, 1998, p. 123)

The lack of a gender-neutral third person singular pronoun is a problem that has existed since Middle English. It should be noted, though, that even great writers from the past chose to use they as a singular pronoun.

[It was] a normal pattern in English that was established four centuries before the 18th century grammarians invented the solecism. The plural pronoun [they] is one solution devised by native speakers of English to a grammatical problem inherent in that language––and it is by no means the worst solution (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, 1994, p. 902).

The following examples date as far back as the 14th century.

“The righteous man … that taketh not their life in vain––Pearl, ca. 1380 (spelling modernized)

There’s not a man I meet…As if I were their well-acquainted friend––Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, 1593” (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, 1994, p. 902).

The Argument

Although the lack of a gender-neutral third person singular pronoun in English has been a valid concern for the prescriptivist grammarians of the past, I will show that the concern is no longer valid in our descriptivist world of today.

The use of the traditional pronoun he, his, him, goes back to the 18th century grammarians who boxed themselves into the position by first deciding that the indefinite pronouns must always be singular. They then had to decide between the masculine and feminine singular pronouns for use in reference to the indefinites, and they chose the masculine (they were, of course, all men) (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, 1994, p. 902).

It is apparent that we are arguing about a grammatical issue that is even older than the prescriptive grammarians whose decisions we are still upholding. With the book achieving so much prominence during the Enlightenment era, prescriptivists appeared to be experts in the field of language grammar. We now realize that their supposed expertise was no more than their own opinion. Unfortunately, we have been stuck with those opinions for centuries. 

The Effects of the Problem

Now more than ever, we are communicating ideas through the written word. The problem with whether or not they can be used as a singular pronoun is affecting everyone who writes. The odd thing is, we all use they in our conversations without even noticing we are doing it. Tell each student to turn in their homework. But as soon as anyone tries to use it in the printed word, it is considered wrong and must be corrected. I think our best solution is to let they out of its plural prison and let it be used as a singular pronoun also.

There are millions of people who would benefit from they being allowed to be used as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. College professors are in a bind right now as they struggle with wanting to move forward with this issue while still being obligated to follow a centuries-old rule. Professor Anne Curzan, linguist, discusses her “‘almost hypocritical position’ of having to grade students’ papers for grammar and usage issues that she doesn’t believe in, like singular they.”

Let’s think of the impact this problem has on authors, editors, teachers, and anyone else who has to make a decision on this issue every time they come across it. Because the pronoun he was used as the gender-neutral singular pronoun up until the ‘70s, this issue was not as prevalent as it is now. As a writer, I have noticed that it is nearly impossible to construct a paragraph where this issue doesn’t pop up, and as an editor, it is equally difficult to deal with. A final decision to allow they as our gender-neutral singular pronoun needs to be made, and it needs to be made now.

The Prescriptivist Hoax

According to linguist John McWhorter (1998), “The only thing keeping us from taking advantage of it [singular they] has been the power of the prescriptivist hoax, starting with Lowth and Murray’s inevitable whacks at it back in the 1700s” (p. 124). And, a hoax it is! Anyone who has studied the history of the English language will be able to tell you that the singular pronoun thou was eventually changed to be the same as the plural pronoun you. There is no one in the last few centuries, and certainly not anyone currently, who would object to you being used as a singular pronoun today.

Let’s be done with the rules of the 18th-century prescriptivists, and let’s make the change today. But, you may say, how can we make such an important change if not everyone else is on board with it? In an online article, Jonathan Owen answers that question for us. He says,

The problem with not using it [singular they] until it becomes accepted is that it won’t become accepted until enough people––especially people with some authority in the field of usage––use it and say it’s okay to use it. I think the tide has already begun to turn as more and more linguists, lexicographers, editors, and writers recommend it as the best solution to a common problem (2017, p. 2).

The first usage authority to accept singular they is the Associated Press who announced the change in March of 2017.

John McWhorter, linguist, sums up language best when he says, “We would no more expect one [language] to be the way it used to be than we would expect whales to still be bearlike critters bumbling around the seashore. Language change goes the whole nine yards––nothing in it is exempt, not sounds, not word order, not word meanings, and certainly not good old pronouns.” (1998, p. 124)

• McWhorter, J. (1998) Word on the Street. New York, New York: Basic Books.
• Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage (1994) Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.
• Owen, J. (2017, October). They and the Gender-Neutral Pronoun Dilemma. Retrieved from http://www.arrantpedantry.com/tag/anne-curzan/
• Image credit: briansj_inslc