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this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2023
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English As a Second Language
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All things for those who use the English language but still there's a lot to learn.
Please follow the instance's guidelines and keep on-topic. Any level of question is welcome, either from a beginner or from an almost-native speaker.
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They as in "what they said"
For instance I want to say someone is bad to a person. If I know he is a male, then I can say
He is a bad person. But with your example, I should saythey are bad personor what? It looks plural.Yeah exactly. They can be plural when referring to more than one person or singular when referring to just one.
But for some reason the verb stays plural... you don't say "They is a bad person".
Because English!
Hmmm interesting. Can/should I use a/an with this like
they areabad person? My English teacher would beat me for this lolThat's also fine
I’d say you have to use a, no?
Yes
You use "an" when the word after sounds like it starts with a vowel. "They are a bad person" is correct, "They are aN awesome person" is correct.
English is dumb.
See entry B1 in the Cambridge dictionary and entry 3 in the Merriam-Webster one, for example.