I’m not a native speaker, but as far as I understood, for singular objects and animals “it” was used. Why use “they” for individual people then?
In: 1400
Because ‘it’ feels very dehumanizing for a lot of people. Some people do use it/it’s pronouns, but they/them is a lot more common
This is a common misconception. ‘They’ has been used for singular for decades, if not longer. For example.
Mom: hey Cynthia, did anyone deliver a package this morning?
Cynthia: they were here earlier but i missed them.
Cynthia doesn’t know if it was a man or woman so they and them is used. They wouldn’t say ‘it’
I’m also a non-native speaker, and I use they for myself, so I figured I’d also chime in.
“It” is not used in reference to human beings. It is considered dehumanizing to use “It” when referring to a person in English. “They” has a history of being used to refer to people of indeterminate gender, and so some humans who reject binary gender and/or gendered language use “They” to refer to… well, ourselves. Hope that helps!
“it” is reserved for non humans.
If you called someone “it” you would be calling them a thing, or an animal, or a monster… something less than human.
Its a huge insult.
Why do people call baby it then?
They = one or a group of people
It = an inanimate object
IMO using “IT” dehumanizes someone.
I don’t use IT with animals either.
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