They is plural. amirite?

This isn't even correct. For example, "a person in a mask mugged me the other day, they took all of my money." 'They' is perfectly grammatically correct, and necessary if I didn't determine the gender of the attacker. This is easy to research.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

"the original rules" of this one word. Okay bud, or we could consider it a globally recognised addendum to "the rule"

by NearbySyrup5962 5 days ago

Dude, past a certain point, what even is the end goal of these hard rules? Language is built to convey information in an understandable, hopefully efficient manner. People understand 'they' singular almost universally as intended. Whatever goal the original rules had, it has assisted in reaching. Unless you exclusively talk with people about lexical history, it serves no other purpose to distinguish this other than semantics. And for that matter, 'they' singular is really useful for trans people, and there's no legit reason to take that away. Not sure if you're trying to or not, but it's a super weird hill to die on

by AppealNormal 5 days ago

The goal here isn't to rewrite how people use language but to acknowledge its foundations. Singular "they" works and is widely understood today, but it evolved as a deviation from its original plural purpose. Language evolves, but that doesn't mean we ignore its roots. Hence, the unpopular opinion—acknowledging historical grammar rules isn't about semantics; it's about understanding where these conventions come from, even if they've adapted over time.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

While I see your point, again, there's no real application for this hill to die on outside of lexical history discussions. Even in legal and academic documents, 'they' works even if the contexts indicates singular. The dictionary as adapted for the people living today disagrees with you. There's the facts of the origins of language, but then there's the facts of the world around it that matter at least as much

by AppealNormal 5 days ago

Language does evolve, but exceptions don't "overwrite" foundational grammar, they adapt alongside it. Singular "they" is an adaptation, not a replacement. Its original use as plural remains intact. As for "thees" and "thous," those didn't coexist, they were fully replaced by "you," which singular "they" hasn't done for any pronoun. Evolution builds on structure; it doesn't erase it outright.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Grammar is constantly changing and evolving, sometimes it completely erases things and certain structures or words become erased. Sometimes it adapts and morphs. English language is an invention and fabrication in itself. It's the nature of language and grammar and syntax to change over time. To deny it is to have your head in the sand And they singular hasn't erased they plural it's just, as you said, built on it

by Anonymous 5 days ago

They referring to an unknown person isn't an exception. It's literally the definition of they. Words can have multiple meanings.

by Key-Ant 5 days ago

So you agree there is a secondary use of they. Literally just disproved your own point right there.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Acknowledging a secondary use doesn't disprove the primary one. Singular "they" is an exception, not the rule. Exceptions don't overwrite foundational grammar.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

It's not either or

by Margarete24 5 days ago

You said it was "an indisputable linguistic fact" and then proceeded to agree that the secondary use is singular.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Words can mean more than one thing, ignoramus. It's not an exception. It's the 2nd definition.

by Margarete24 5 days ago

Except you can go somewhere like Meriam-Webster and see the various usages of they You need to understand words can have more then 1 usage

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Apparently op slept through 3rd grade English. THEY just didn't get it.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

The usage of "they" in singular has existed for longer than the usage of "you" in singular. I think that settles it.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

"You" has always been singular and "they" has always been plural.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

You are very confidently wrong 😂

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Someone forgot to take their medicine.

by ConfidentDiver4520 5 days ago

"There's not a man I meet but doth salute me As if I were their well-acquainted friend" Shakespeare using singular they with a known gender (man).

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Thats because They're and their are not the same thing my friend.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

I'm not even English and I know that singular they/them has been a thing for more than 700 years. But according to you it's an "indisputable linguistic fact". Great job at being wrong though.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

A dog was in my yard but I didn't see where they went

by Anonymous 5 days ago

it... where it went...

by FeistyAmphibian5897 5 days ago

This is an indisputable linguistic fact Yes, the fact that you're completely wrong is indeed indisputable.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

language evolves, English 50 years ago isn't the same as English now, I don't get why people can't accept that

by Crazy_Childhood 5 days ago

In this case, people can't accept changes which happened before they were even born.

by SolidInvestigator871 5 days ago

You seem very confident for someone who is wrong Back in the 1600s "you" also used to only be plural and people wrote how anyone who used you as a singular was a fool Singular they dates back as far as the 1300's

by Anonymous 5 days ago

You are giving me the impression that you spend a lot of your life puzzled

by Anonymous 5 days ago

I have no doubt that you're correct about that. I am not debating what "you" meant in the 1600's. I think we were talking about "they" in the 2000's. If you went through life using multi-century old language, I don't think you would be very well understood, and you certainly wouldn't be correct.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

That's only one of about four different definitions of they….

by Anonymous 5 days ago

their =/= theyre = "they are" my friend.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

what are you talking about? i know. i never misused them here.

by Quigleykeara 5 days ago

lol. Have a good night man. Stay in school.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

They is plural, unless being used to refer to someone of an unspecified gender.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

When you're so desperate to be a bigot that you forget basic grammar. "They" sentences use plural grammar but no one who knows English would ever say that you can't use it to mean a single person. It's probably most often used when you don't know the gender of the person. "There's a person at my door. They keep knocking."

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Singular ‘they' has been in use since the 1300s. If you're such a stickler for pronoun usage, I hope you aren't using singular ‘you', which replaced thou.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

I never heard anyone saying "They" is not plural.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Pay attention to what OP actually says. They are not arguing if "They" is singular or not. They are arguing if "They" is plural. No one is saying you cannot use "They" to refer to multiple people.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Yes. Obviously. Why do you feel the need to explain that?

by AskOptimal1119 5 days ago

It can not be plural, it can be plural. Depends on context

by Quigleykeara 5 days ago

"where did your sister get to?" "They didnt say anything to me..."

by AskOptimal1119 5 days ago

Ask a linguist how language evolves, and consider that there may be a common plural and singular use of "they". Hooray!

by Anonymous 5 days ago

I think that when 'they' is used as singular the third person present tense should be used as is the case in every other sentence that features a singular pronoun. They is on their way over - singular can prepare for one person. They are on their way over - plural break out the extra crockery. If they is singular it should follow the rules for singular pronouns.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

This isn't even an unpopular opinion it's just an objectively incorrect fact

by Renekshlerin 5 days ago

lol no.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

If someone says: "they are working on it" for most people it means minimum 2 people are working on it

by Dbins 5 days ago

The English language disagrees with you. Sorry

by AskOptimal1119 5 days ago

You're just wrong. Try using a dictionary. They has been used to refer to someone of unspecified gender for over a hundred years. So what you mean is, they is sometimes plural. And sometimes not.

by Margarete24 5 days ago

This has nothing to do with transphobia. It's a discussion about grammar and the historical usage of "they." Let's not mischaracterize the conversation.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Sure buddy

by Anonymous 5 days ago

You guys are not making a nice impression when you fail to understand the point of the conversation and make it all about yourselves.

by meredith48 5 days ago

If someone refers to himself of herself as "they", I expect multiple personalities or some other disorder.

by Delicious-Cap 5 days ago