On Monday 31 January 2005 03:43 am, Henrique de Moraes Holschuh wrote: > I wonder how many native speakers would assume "they" to refer to an > unknown number of unknown elements when used as an indefinite pronoum? > That seems to be the real question here.
Whatever its merits in formal writing, "they" is commonly used colloquially (at least around here) as a gender-neutral substitute for "he" or "she". Daniel -- /------------------- Daniel Burrows <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ------------------\ | "Truly, you have a dizzying intellect." | | -- "The Princess Bride" | \------ Listener-supported public radio -- NPR -- http://www.npr.org -------/
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