Is singular they OK?

Is singular they OK?

Dear Madam or Sir

I have just discovered your excellent website and begun perusing some of your articles. In the one by Jack Elliot on technical writing I noticed one linguistic point that we (translators at a company in Germany) often discuss but cannot always agree on.

Jack writes:

‘An automotive engineer, for example, will have a clear understanding of terms such as ‘horsepower’ and ‘torque’ and how they influence a car’s performance. They will also be familiar with …’

‘The engineer writing the technical report isn’t selling the car, so they don’t need to use adjectives and adverbs…’

He is, therefore, using ‘they’ as a neutral pronoun relating to a singular noun of unspecified gender. This tallies with my own approach but every time I use it I feel twinges of uncertainty. Is it safe to assume that, in the 21st century, this grammatical oddity is now not only accepted but even preferred among careful writers?

I would welcome your thoughts on the matter.

Kind regards

Alan

Hi Alan

Many thanks for getting in touch, and for your encouraging words.

You’re right: it’s becoming increasingly acceptable to use ‘they’ in this way; just as it’s becoming decreasingly acceptable to use gender-biased language. You’ll find more on it here.

Ultimately, it’s a style thing. I definitely fall into the ‘describer’ camp when it comes to language: I take the view that English has been evolving since we began speaking it, so it’s pointless to try to stop its progress. I don’t tend to adopt new grammar conventions with undue haste; and I hate sloppy writing. (I doggedly differentiate ‘compare to’ and ‘compare with’, for example.) But using ‘they’ is, I think, the best solution English speakers have found to a modern problem.

Speaking of style, I strongly encourage you to download The Write Stuff if you haven’t already. As well as being our own style guide, it’s full of solid advice on business writing. (The sign-up form is on the right of the home page.)

Thank you again for emailing us, and please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other queries.

Kind regards

Rob Ashton
Chief Executive

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