It's OK To Use “They” To Describe One Person: Here's Why
用they来形容一个人是可以的, 这就是为什么:
Has someone ever asked you to refer to them as they instead of him or her? Are you hedging because you can't possibly refer to one single person as they? What if we told you that they has been used to refer to just one person since at least the 1300s?
是非曾经有人让你用they而不是he或she来称呼自己?你是否犹豫不决因为你不可能把一个人称为they?但如果我们告诉你，至少从13世纪开始，they就已经被用来指代一个人了呢?
How can they be a pronoun for one person?
Elementary English teachers tend to go over the basic pronouns. Those are the words in the English language that can be subbed in when nouns (people, places, or things) aren't up for playing … or when it just takes too much time to say the full noun form.
they怎么能成为一个人的代名词呢？
初级的英语教师倾向于运用基本的代名词。在英语中，当名词(人、地点或事物)不适合使用的时候，或者当说完整的名词形式需要花费太多时间的时候，这些词就可以作为副词。
I, he, she, and you are all pronouns you might have learned along the way. Maybe you also learned that they were used to refer to singular nouns or words that describe just one person, one place, or one thing. “I am going to eat chocolate for breakfast.” is a sentence that you automatically know is just about you, the one person who is living their best life with a decadent daily treat.
I，he，she，和you都是代词，你可能都已经学会了。也许你还了解到，they都是被用来指代或描述一个人、一个地方或一件事情的单数名词或单词。“I am going to eat chocolate for breakfast.”这句话你自然而然地就知道这是关于你自己的，一个过着最美好生活的人，享受着颓废的日常美食。
But, you notice how we just used they when we were talking about a whole bunch of pronouns? They is often used as something called a plural pronoun, a word that's used to describe multiple people, places, or things. They all read Dictionary, for example, would probably mean a bunch of really cool logophiles sat around on a Friday night looking for definitions together, right? (Hey, we tried).
但是，你有注意到我们在讨论一大堆代词时是如何使用they的吗? they经常被用作复数代词，一个用来描述多个人、地方或事物的词。例如，他们都读“字典”这本书，这可能意味着一群非常酷的逻辑爱好者在周五晚上坐在一起寻找词汇的定义，对吧? (嘿,我们还真的尝试过)。
But, they is not only a plural pronoun.
但是，they不仅仅是复数代词。
This chameleon word is also a singular pronoun, and it has been for centuries. Etymologists estimate that as far back as the 1300s, they has been used as a gender neutral pronoun, a word that was substituted in place of either he (a masculine singular pronoun) or she (a feminine singular pronoun).
这个”变色龙词”在几个世纪里都被运用为一个单数代词了。词源学家估计，早在13世纪，they就被用作中性的代词，这个词取代了he (一个男性的单数代词)或she (一个女性的单数代词)。
They is actually an extremely useful word
When we don't know the gender of the person we're talking about, they really comes in handy. We even used a variation of it earlier—Did you catch where we said their? Scroll back up!
“they”实际上是一个非常有用的词。
当我们不知道我们谈论的人的性别时，they就真的派上了用场。我们甚至说的不是“人”，你发现我们是在哪里说到的吗？翻上去看！
It's also a good way for people who don't identify with the binary genders of female and male to describe themselves because they and them are not gendered.
对于那些无性别主义的人来说，这也是一种很好的方式来描述自己，因为They和Them都没有性别区分。
Sharing our pronouns is a way of sharing our gender identity with the world. You might identify as female and ask that people refer to you as she/her. Or, maybe you identify as male and your friends use he/him when they talk about you. For other folks, they/them are the appropriate pronouns to use.
分享我们的代名词是与世界分享我们的性别认同的一种方式。你可能认为自己是女性，并要求别人称你为“she/her”。或者，你认为自己是男性，你的朋友在谈论你的时候会使用he/him。对于其他人来说，“它们”才是合适的代名词。
So, next time someone asks you to use they in the singular, tell them you're on board. The dictionary approves!
所以，下次有人让你用 they 这个词来表示单数，告诉他们你是对的，字典批准的!
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