It and They

I just want to write an appreciation post to ‘it’ and ‘they’.

These are double duty pronouns. Both ‘it’ and ‘they’ are used for single items as well as groups.

Generally ‘it’ means object. ‘They’ is used for humanoids.

When dealing with an unknown human, ‘they’ is the substitute pronoun.

When dealing with an unknown item, ‘it’ is the pronoun.

Once you have a better pronoun, use it. Until then, these two will work wonders.

It’s impressive how much work they put into the English language. Even in this post where I am talking about them, I use them quite a bit.

I’m happy we have such versatile pronouns in our language. English is complicated enough after all.

Reminder from [Pronouns 1: The Basics] and [Pronouns 2: Grammar Rules]

it/it/its/its/itself

It uses the singular verb agreement. It is beautiful.

they/them/their/theirs/themself

They uses plural verb agreement. They are beautiful.

Any further questions about pronouns ask.

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A random question to ask all your characters is what pronouns they would want personally, what pronouns they’d accept, and what pronouns they’d fight over.