singular they

(pronoun)

A pronoun that is gender neutral and refers to a single person when paired appropriately with a gender-neutral antecedent. 

Related Terms

Examples of singular they in the following topics:

  • First Declension

    • Pure Latin nouns of the First Declension regularly end, in the Nominative Singular, in -ă, weakened from -ā, and are of the Feminine Gender.
    • They are declined as follows:—
    • c) The Locative Singular ends in -ae; as, Rōmae, at Rome.
    • In the Plural they are declined like regular Latin nouns of the First Declension.
    • In the Singular they are declined as follows:—

  • Subject-Verb Agreement

    • Third person is she, he, it, or they.
    • Some indefinite pronouns can take a singular or plural verb based on whether the noun to which they are referring is uncountable (singular) or countable (plural).
    • They take a singular verb form.
    • Amounts take singular verbs because they are treated as units, which are singular nouns.
    • Some non-amount words end in "s" but also take singular verbs because they refer to units or single entities.

  • Third Declension

    • Adjectives of three terminations in the Nominative Singular,—one for each gender.
    • With the exception of Comparatives, and a few other words mentioned below in § 70, 1, all Adjectives of the Third Declension follow the inflection of ĭ-stems; i.e. they have the Ablative Singular in -ī, the Genitive Plural in-ium, the Accusative Plural in -īs (as well as -ēs) in the Masculine and Feminine, and the Nominative and Accusative Plural in -ia in Neuters.
    • In the Nominative Singular of Adjectives of this class the Feminine form is sometimes used for the Masculine.
    • Inops, needy, and memor, mindful, have Ablative Singular inopī, memorī, but Genitive Plural inopum, memorum.
    • But they do not have -ī the Ablative, except when employed as adjectives; when used as participles or as substantives, they have -e; as,—

  • Third Declension

    • These end in the Nominative Singular in -e, -al, and -ar.
    • They always have -ī in the Ablative Singular, -ia in the Nominative, Accusative, and Vocative Plural, and -ium in the Genitive Plural, thus holding more steadfastly to the i-character than do Masculine and Feminine ĭ-Stems.
    • Proper names in -e form the Ablative Singular in -e; as, Sōracte, Mt.
    • Their true character as Consonant-Stems, however, is shown by the fact that they never take -im in the Accusative Singular, or -ī in the Ablative Singular.
    • Supellex, supellectilis, f., furniture, is confined to the Singular.

  • Kongo

    • They are primarily defined by the speaking of Kikongo, a common language.
    • Before the early twentieth century, there was no single name in Africa for the group; in the earliest documented ethnonyms of the seventeenth century, those residing in the Kingdom of Kongo called themselves Esikongo (singular Mwisikongo); those in the Kingdom of Loango called themselves Bavili (singular Muvili), and in other parts of the Kikongo-speaking world they had different names as well.
    • Since the early twentieth century, Bakongo (singular M'Kongo or Mukongo) as an ethnonym for all members of the Kikongo-speaking community has gained popularity.
    • The name nkondi derives from the verb -konda, meaning "to hunt" and thus nkondi means "hunter" because they can hunt down and attack wrong-doers or witches, or in some cases, also enemies.
    • Because they are aggressive, many nkondi with human figures are carved with their hands raised, sometimes bearing weapons.

  • Fourth Declension

    • They are declined as follows:—
    • Nouns in -us, particularly in early Latin, often form the Genitive Singular in -ī, following the analogy of nouns in -us of the Second Declension; as, senātī, ōrnātī.
    • Nouns in -us sometimes have -ū in the Dative Singular, instead of -uī; as, frūctū (for frūctuī).

  • Second Declension

    • Proper names in -ius regularly form the Genitive Singular in -ī (instead of -iī), and the Vocative Singular in -ī (for -ie); as Vergílī, of Virgil, or O Virgil (instead of Vergiliī, Vergilie).
    • Fīlius forms the Vocative Singular in -ī (for -ie); viz. fīlī, O son!
    • Deus, god, lacks the Vocative Singular.
    • The Locative Singular ends in -ī; as, Corinthī, at Corinth.
    • They are mainly proper names, and are declined as follows:—

  • Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

    • The singular pronouns include I, me, he, she, it, and more.
    • [The singular pronoun he refers to the antecedent Jamil.]
    • Examples of plural pronouns include we, us, they, and others.
    • They went to a Chinese buffet.
    • [The plural pronoun they refers to the antecedent George, Omar, and Phil.]

  • Gender

    • Grammatical gender is determined not by sex, but by the general signification of the word, or the ending of its Nominative Singular.
    • By grammatical gender, nouns denoting things or qualities are often Masculine or Feminine, simply by virtue of their signification or the ending of the Nominative Singular.
    • The gender of other nouns is determined by the ending of the Nominative Singular.[11]
    • —Names of animals usually have grammatical gender, according to the ending of the Nominative Singular, but the one form may designate either the male or female; as, ānser, m., goose or gander.

  • Number

    • The Latin has two Numbers,—the Singular and Plural.
    • The Singular denotes one object, the Plural, more than one.