Re: About the use of epicene "they" in technical documents.

[Adeodato Simó <dato@net.com.org.es>]

* Charles Plessy [Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:35:56 +0900]:

> please have some pity for the non-native speakers, who are taught that
> "they" is the third person plural pronoun.

I'm not a native speaker, and of course the singular they was never
mentioned to me in school, but I didn't find it particularly hard to
understand when I first encountered it.

I'll reckon it can be surprising at first but -honestly- do you think
it's complicated enough that should be regarded as something "better
avoided" when talking to non-natives?

Cheers,

-- 
Adeodato Simó                                     dato at net.com.org.es
Debian Developer                                  adeodato at debian.org
 
In my opinion, the most fruitful and natural play of the mind is in
conversation. I find it sweeter than any other action in life; and if I
were forced to choose, I think I would rather lose my sight than my
hearing and voice.
                -- Michel de Montaigne