How to call people of unknown gender in English? (he or she)
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.
They as in "what they said"
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 saythey are bad personor what? It looks plural.Yeah exactly. They can be plural when referring to more than one person or singular when referring to just one.
But for some reason the verb stays plural... you don't say "They is a bad person".
Because English!
Hmmm interesting. Can/should I use a/an with this like
they areabad person? My English teacher would beat me for this lolThat's also fine
I’d say you have to use a, no?
Yes
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.
See entry B1 in the Cambridge dictionary and entry 3 in the Merriam-Webster one, for example.
It can feel a little clunky, but I do this all the time when typing online. Particularly on discord or somewhere where I have no idea of a members gender.
"I first noticed this member join our server a week ago but they have not posted a lot. The few posts that they have made show that they are interested in the game, but I think they are looking for a different experience. I wish them well in their search for a different group."