"What Is Singular They?": Oregon State Guide to Grammar

This video describes the rise of “they” as a singular pronoun, showing how it solves a grammatical conundrum and then comparing it to the transformed usage of “you” in the 17th century. Written and performed by Senior Instructor J.T. Bushnell, it is designed for high school and college students studying grammar, writing, or linguistics.

The School of Writing, Literature, and Film at Oregon State University sponsors this series. For further explanations of grammar issues and writing tips, please subscribe to the free SWLF YouTube Channel or visit https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/w.... In the comments section below, feel free to suggest other terms you would like us to cover. Liking, sharing, and commenting on these videos will help us to build a rich digital learning environment around grammar and language.

Below are a few more videos in this series. If there are topics you'd like to see us cover in the future, please let us know in the comments!

"What Is Grammar?":    • An Introduction to The Oregon State Guide ...  
"What Is a Noun?":    • "What Is a Noun?": Oregon State Guide to G...  
"What Is a Verb?":    • "What Is a Verb?": Oregon State Guide to G...  
"What Is a Subject?":    • "What Is a Subject in Grammar?": Oregon St...  
"What Is a Predicate?":    • "What Is a Predicate in Grammar?": Oregon ...  
“What Is a Phrase?”:    • "What Is a Phrase in Grammar?": Oregon Sta...  
“What Is a Clause?”:    • "What Is a Clause in Grammar?": Oregon Sta...  
“When to Use Commas”:    • "When To Use Commas": Oregon State Guide t...  
“When NOT to Use Commas”:    • "When NOT to Use Commas": Oregon State Gui...  
“What Is the Oxford Comma (And Is It Really Optional)?”:    • "What Is the Oxford Comma (And Is It Reall...  
"What Is Passive Voice?":    • "What Is Passive Voice?": Oregon State Gui...  
"What Is Parallelism?":    • "What Is Parallelism?": Oregon State Guide...  
"What Is Gender-Neutral Language?":    • "What Is Gender-Neutral Language?": Oregon...  
“What Are Dialects?”:    • "What Are Dialects?": Oregon State Guide t...  
“What Is Code-Meshing?”:    • "What Is Code-Meshing?" Oregon State Guide...  
“How to Use a Semicolon”:    • "How to Use a Semicolon": Oregon State Gui...  
“How to Use a Colon”:    • "How to Use a Colon": Oregon State Guide t...  
“How to Use Apostrophes”:    • "How to Use Apostrophes": Oregon State Gui...  
“What Is a Comma Splice?”:    • "What Is a Comma Splice?": Oregon State Gu...  
“What Is Syntax?”:    • "What Is Syntax in Grammar?": Oregon State...  
"What Is Mood in Grammar?":    • "What Is Mood in Grammar?": Oregon State G...  
"What Is (AND ISN'T) Standard Written English?":    • "What Is (AND ISN'T) Standard Written Engl...