Tuesday, February 25, 2014

somebody/someone: Common Errors in English Usage Entry for Tuesday, February 25, 2014

somebody/someone
Can “somebody” or “someone” be plural nouns? No. They are always singular.

A sentence like “When somebody runs a red light, they risk causing an accident” is just an example of singular “they.”

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2 comments:

  1. Regarding your example, would it be better to say "When somebody runs a red light, he risks causing an accident"?

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    Replies
    1. Your sentence is just fine, too, but the point of the example used in the entry is to show how "they" gets used as a singular pronoun, well explained here:
      http://tinyurl.com/nd43aq

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