-they-

-they-
Nota d'uso
Una frase come chiedi a qualcuno se può aiutarci si può tradurre in inglese con:
1) Ask someone if he can help us;
2) Ask someone if he or she can help us;
3) Ask someone if s/he can help us;
4) Ask someone if they can help us.
La 1) è spesso considerata sessista perché usa soltanto il pronome maschile he; la 2) è comune, ma può risultare goffa e pesante; la 3) è possibile solo nella lingua scritta; la 4), benché ritenuta da alcuni scorretta perché fa concordare un pronome singolare (someone) con uno plurale (they), corrisponde in realtà a un uso radicato da secoli nella lingua inglese, che di recente si è ulteriormente diffuso in parte sotto la spinta della nuova sensibilità contraria all'uso sessista del linguaggio.
Possono concordare con they (e them, their, theirs):
a i pronomi indefiniti (somebody, someone, everybody, everyone, anybody, anyone, nobody, no one, none, whoever): Anyone can register, provided that they have a degree, chiunque può iscriversi, purché sia laureato; Everybody should do their duty, ognuno dovrebbe fare il proprio dovere;
b la parola person: Lecturing a depressed person is not the most effective way to help them, fare la predica a una persona depressa non è il modo più efficace per aiutarla;
c i pronomi either e neither e tutti i nomi singolari quando siano preceduti da each, every, either, neither, no, any: Neither man lifted their head, nessuno dei due uomini sollevò il capo; Every child needs to know that they are loved, ogni bambino ha bisogno di sapere che è amato;
d i nomi singolari che, nel contesto, possono riferirsi indifferentemente a una donna o a un uomo: If your best friend knew that, what would they do?, se il vostro migliore amico o la vostra migliore amica lo sapesse, che cosa farebbe?

English-Italian dictionary. 2013.

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