Answering another question, I used the following phrase:
Your reader is […], but they are a busy person.
I have two difficulties here:
- In the first phrase, a reader, being singular noun, certainly implies is;
- In the second phrase, they, being a plural pronoun (regardless that it refers a single person), still requires are, but are implies the plural for busy persons which sounds awkward (a reader ⇆ persons);
Obviously, if I used "…but he is a busy person", everything works fine, but I'm trying to use a gender-agnostic form.
What is the proper number agreement here?
Best Answer
As found in Wikipedia, Singular They can be used for:
It further notes:
To specifically answer the question posed:
is correct. Even though your reader is singular, and when replaced by the singular they pronoun, they remains morphologically and syntactically plural and thus they are is appropriate.
You, of course, could bypass the whole issue, and say: