學校教英文時，大多時候會告訴我們they是複數，指「他們」，這是對的！但是在不知道性別的情況下，they也可用作第三人稱單數使用。事實上從十四世紀開始，英語母語人士便將they當作性別中立的單數人稱代名詞了。在此提供例句：After a student completes their coursework, they take an exam. 還有：Who is on the phone? What do they want?
由於來電者性別不明，美國人便會很自然地用they當作單數人稱代名詞，在口語上特別常見。換作正式文件，可把整個句子改為複數：Students take exams after completing their coursework. 或更正式一點說：Who is on the phone? What does the caller want?
還想了解更多資訊嗎？請閱讀這篇文章：http://ow.ly/c9Zu50ymWAj
In school, most English learners that the pronoun "they" refers to more than one person (in the plural), and that's correct! But, "they" can also be used to refer to a third person in the singular if the gender of the person is unknown. In fact, English speakers have used "they" as a gender-neutral singular pronoun since the 14th century.
Here's an example: "After a student completes their coursework, they take an exam." Or, as another example, "Who is on the phone? What do they want?" The gender of this student or caller is unknown, so an American English speaker will naturally use the singular pronoun "they," especially when speaking. If writing a formal document, they might get around this by editing the sentence to the plural, as in "Students take exams after completing their coursework," or by changing to a more formal register, as in "Who is on the phone? What does the caller want?"
Need to know more? Read this article: http://ow.ly/c9Zu50ymWAj
#GenderAndLanguage #AmericanEnglish
since例句 在 [文法] How long has it been since you.... - 看板Eng-Class 的推薦與評價
大家好，想請教一下
在這個網站 https://english.ecominfozone.net/archives/3260 提到：
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How long is it since you last had a visitor?
It is five years since we last had a visitor.
= We haven’t had a visitor for five years.
(你們多久沒有訪客了? 我們已有五年沒有訪客了。)
(說明)
就版主的理解，”How long has it been since you last had a visitor?” 這種說法
已經逐漸被人們接受 (不管是否為積非成是)。英文單字 “since” 前面通常都用完成式
，為何唯獨這種句型要用非要用現在簡單式？美國人或多或少也會搞不清楚吧！
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不曉得這裡是不是有筆誤？
那位版主是不是要說「就版主的理解，”How long 'is it' since you last had a
visitor?” 這種說法已經逐漸被人們接受...」。
而他認為”How long 'has it been' since you last had a visitor?” 才是正確的。
不過OALD倒是也有收錄類似例句：
It's twenty years since I've seen her.
How long is it since we last went to the theatre?
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/since_2
所以依該版主的意見，這是否算是已經「積非成是」的用法了呢？
另外文章接著有提到：
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我們甚至可以發現下面這種邏輯不合的句子：
“The guy you’re looking for has just left.”
“For how long ago?” – 邏輯怪怪的!
“I don’t know. A couple of hours, maybe.”
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請問「邏輯怪怪」的意思是不是在於，對方已經說了那人剛剛離開，而回應者卻還問「多
久以前？」
那如果這樣的回應不佳，不知是否有更好的回問方式呢？
以上請教各位。謝謝！
為何我會這樣認真看待這篇文章呢？
因為該版主是一名譯者，也有在清大學與交大外語任教，背景十分專業。
故對其內容我也審慎以對。
PS 我有寫信問他，不過還沒有回應，若有回應我在文章裡更新。
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※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc), 來自: 114.32.32.215
※ 文章網址: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/Eng-Class/M.1507037677.A.0A5.html
※ 編輯: scju (114.25.240.114), 10/07/2017 01:34:16
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