They, Singular or Plural

Is 'They' a singular or a plural pronoun? The answer to this question used to be so easy. We would've said yes. But it's more complicated than that.

Gender Awareness Revolution

After the gender awareness revolution took place in the early 1900s, some people do not consider themselves as 'he' or 'she'. They are called non-binary people.
Most of the non-binary people chose to be called 'they'. But is not the pronoun 'they' supposed to be a plural third-person pronoun?

The Singular 'They'

The singular 'they' is the newest arrival in the world of English pronouns. Its purpose is to be a gender-neutral third-person pronoun in English.
As you might have known already, we had 'he' to refer to male persons and animals and 'she' to refer to female persons and animals.

What Was Used Before The Singular 'They'?

Before the introduction of the singular 'they', if we wanted to refer to people in general or if we didn't know the person was male or female, we used 'he', which was a problem from a feminist point of view.
Therefore, now we have a better alternative: we have the singular 'they' to help us use language that includes men and women equally.

When Can We Use The Singular 'They'?

We use the singular 'they' to refer to:

a generic person with unknown or unidentified gender
a specific, known person who explicitly prefers 'they' as their pronoun

If anyone says a word, they'll regret it.

The doctor is not to blame. They are only doing their job.

The Singular 'They': Plural or Singular Verb?

When 'they' is the subject of a sentence, whether it is the singular 'they' or plural 'they', you must use plural verbs. Never say or write 'they is.' Always use 'are' with this pronoun.

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