this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2023
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English As a Second Language

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All things for those who use the English language but still there's a lot to learn.

Please follow the instance's guidelines and keep on-topic. Any level of question is welcome, either from a beginner or from an almost-native speaker.

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How to call people of unknown gender in English? (he or she) (lemy.lol)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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cross-posted from: https://lemy.lol/post/196311

I'm from Turkey so English isn't my native language. We just call O in Turkish to no matter its he/she/it. Is there an equivalent of this generic term on English?

I don't want to call he to a female or vice versa.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They as in "what they said"

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

For instance I want to say someone is bad to a person. If I know he is a male, then I can say He is a bad person. But with your example, I should say they are bad person or what? It looks plural.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yeah exactly. They can be plural when referring to more than one person or singular when referring to just one.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But for some reason the verb stays plural... you don't say "They is a bad person".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Because English!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hmmm interesting. Can/should I use a/an with this like they are a bad person? My English teacher would beat me for this lol

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's also fine

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’d say you have to use a, no?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You use "an" when the word after sounds like it starts with a vowel. "They are a bad person" is correct, "They are aN awesome person" is correct.

English is dumb.