GMMichael
Guide of Modos
They (pl) have been using "they was" in the south for centuries (one (neut.) assumes). Teachers (or English book publishers?) still haven't adopted that. It would be impressive to see a new teaching of "they" usage after only decades.I would personally advocate for using the more natural-sounding conjugations. Nonbinary folks are already fighting an uphill battle getting people to use they instead of he or she, and getting people to use funny-sounding conjugations like "they is" and "they was" might be a bridge too far. The rules of language are based on usage... I suspect we will see "they are" being taught as the appropriate conjugation for a singular nonbinary person before we see "they is."
Much appreciated. But I might have been talking about the men with "they." Or maybe Chris was willing to use the wand that the men had.Let me edit this for you...
"Chris, the rogue, stealthily approached the campfire which was surrounded by ten lightly skinned men. The rogue had a Wand of Fireball, and they were willing to use it. Once Chris got into range, they used the wand, but it backfired, and the rogue died a fiery death."
The confusion over singular or plural "you" was neatly (?) solved in the south with the invention of a new "word." I'd like to see the same for a singular "they."
By the way Southerners, if "rural American communities" is more applicable to the above statements than "the south," I'm happy to do some editing here.