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The Oxford English Dictionary traces singular "they" back to 1375<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'' (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005.</ref>, and throughout the middle ages and renaissance it was used as a singular gender neutral pronoun, making it one of the oldest pronouns in the English language. However, in the 18th century prescriptive grammarians declared that "they" should only be used when referring to a group, and suggested using a "gender-neutral he" as an alternative.<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=d68sHzfpWVMC</ref> Reasons given for this are: 1) Latin did not have a singular, gender neutral pronoun, and since Latin was a more prestigious language, prescriptivists thought that English should be more like Latin. 2) When plural pronouns are used certain verbs change form (ie: "he was" vs "they were"). These verbs always change when "they" is used, even when used for an individual. This was an unacceptable inconsistency according to prescriptivists. |
The Oxford English Dictionary traces singular "they" back to 1375<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'' (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005.</ref>, and throughout the middle ages and renaissance it was used as a singular gender neutral pronoun, making it one of the oldest pronouns in the English language. However, in the 18th century prescriptive grammarians declared that "they" should only be used when referring to a group, and suggested using a "gender-neutral he" as an alternative.<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=d68sHzfpWVMC</ref> Reasons given for this are: 1) Latin did not have a singular, gender neutral pronoun, and since Latin was a more prestigious language, prescriptivists thought that English should be more like Latin. 2) When plural pronouns are used certain verbs change form (ie: "he was" vs "they were"). These verbs always change when "they" is used, even when used for an individual. This was an unacceptable inconsistency according to prescriptivists. |
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The idea that singular "they" is grammatically incorrect continues to the modern day, although it is not strictly followed in normal speech. Most individuals will use "they" when referring to an unknown individual without realizing it. In the modern day singular "they" is often used by the[[Non-Binary|non-binary]] community as a gender neutral pronoun. They/Them pronouns are typically, but not always, used by those who want to present in a gender neutral way or otherwise don't want to present masculinity or femininely. |
The idea that singular "they" is grammatically incorrect continues to the modern day, although it is not strictly followed in normal speech. Most individuals will use "they" when referring to an unknown individual without realizing it. In the modern day singular "they" is often used by the [[Non-Binary|non-binary]] community as a gender neutral pronoun. They/Them pronouns are typically, but not always, used by those who want to present in a gender neutral way or otherwise don't want to present masculinity or femininely. |
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