Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[klafterreith]

Please tell me if the following is correct:

1. Encourage a friend to seek help if it seems t h e y (?) need it.
Is the t h e y accepatble? Y /N

2. These feelings a r e for a couple of days.
is the a r e acceptable Y / N
or must it be:
These feelings last for a couple of days.

3. These people are much more unhappier.
These people are much unhappier.
These people are much more unhappy.
which one is okay?


Thank you!

[asterix]

Nowadays I am told that they is acceptable.
However, A friend is singular and they is plural so, grammatically, it is incorrect.

Formerly, the correct way to write this was: Encourage a friend to seek help if it seems he needs it. ( If the sex of the friend was unclear then you defaulted to the masculine pronoun).

Since politcal correctness reared its prissy head, it is somehow considered an insult to women (or something) to use the masculine singular pronoun. It does not appear to be an insult to men to use the feminine singular pronoun, though, so little protest will be heard if you write: Encourage a friend to seek help if it seems she needs it.

And then there are those who write: Encourage a friend to seek help if it seems he or she needs it.
Probably in time they will be considered grammatically correct, as a large number of people say that, anyway.

These feelings last for a couple of days, sounds more usual

These people are much unhappier, is correct.