AEE：可以用“They”来指代单个人吗？

这是All Ears English播客。

This is an All Ears English podcast.

你能用they来指代一个人吗？

Can you use they for one person?

欢迎收听All Ears English播客，已下载超过两亿次。

Welcome to the All Ears English podcast downloaded more than 200,000,000 times.

你是否在英语学习中感到停滞不前？

Are you feeling stuck with your English?

我们将教你如何通过关注交流而非完美，变得自信而流利。本节目由美国主持人Aubrey Carter、雅思达人Lindsey McMahon以及英语冒险家联袂呈现，来自美国亚利桑那州和科罗拉多州。

We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection with your American host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz, and Lindsey McMahon, the English adventurer, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA.

如需每周通过电子邮件接收文字稿，请访问allearsenglish.com/subscribe。

And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com forward slash subscribe.

当你听到母语者使用they但并不指代特定性别时，是否会感到困惑？

Do you get confused when you hear native speakers use they and not refer to a specific gender?

实际上，我们在英语中这样做的原因有五个。

There are actually five reasons we might do this in English.

今天就把这五个原因全部了解清楚。

Get all five of them today.

嘿，琳赛。

Hey, Lindsay.

你怎么样？

How are you?

我今天状态不错，奥布里。

I'm doing pretty well today, Aubrey.

和往常一样，丹佛阳光明媚。

The sun is shining in Denver as usual.

真好。

Nice.

实际上，凤凰城正在下雨，这在那儿非常

It's actually raining in Phoenix, which is very

罕见

rare for

我们。

us.

是啊。

Yeah.

这非常罕见。

That's very rare.

太疯狂了。

That's crazy.

我喜欢。

I love it.

喜欢。

Love it.

下雨真是随机。

It's random when it rains.

哦，我猜是的。

Oh, I bet yeah.

当雨打在路面上时，会有一种不同的气味，尤其是路面还暖和的时候。

There's a different smell when it hits the pavement, especially if the pavement's warm.

嗯。

Yeah.

对。

Right.

我超喜欢。

I love it.

嗯。

Yeah.

但我有个完全不相关的问题想问你。

But I have a totally off subject question for you.

你准备好了吗？

Are you ready?

准备好了。

Yes.

说来听听。

Let's hear it.

好的。

Okay.

你有没有用 'they' 来指代一个人？

Do you ever use they to refer to one person?

有。

Yeah.

当然有。

Definitely.

实际上，我们在英语中有五种不同的方式来这么做。

There's actually five different ways that we do this in English.

我经常说 'they'，因为我并不知道他是他还是她。

This happens a lot that I'll say they, because I I don't know if it's a he or she.

对吧？

Right?

有不同的原因。

There's different reasons.

或者我是在保护某人的匿名性。

Or maybe I'm protecting someone's anonymity.

所以，深入探讨一下你在指代单个人时使用‘they’的各种原因，将会很有趣。

So this is gonna be interesting to dive into all of the reasons that you might say they when you're referring to just one person.

是的。

Yes.

我喜欢这个。

I love it.

今天我们要讨论几个问题。

And so this there are a few questions we have today.

是的，奥布里？

Yes, Aubrey?

还是只是

Or is it just

我们收到了很多关于用‘they’指代单数一个人的问题。

one We've gotten quite a few questions about using they for one person.

所以我们在这里分享其中两个。

So we're gonna share two of them here.

第一个来自YouTube。

The first one was in YouTube.

卡洛斯说：我非常喜欢你们精彩的播客。

Carlos said, I love your amazing podcast.

我正在用它来提升我的英语水平。

I'm using it to level up my English.

问题。

Question.

用‘they’或‘them’指代单数一个人是正确的吗？

Is it correct to use they or them to refer to a single person?

此致敬礼。

Regards.

是的。

Yes.

然后你愿意读一下另一个关于‘是的’的留言吗？

And then would you like to read the other one for Yes.

我们，

Us,

我们出色的听众Naugou说：感谢你们总是提供如此有用且信息丰富的节目。

And then our wonderful listener, Naugou, said, Thank you for always your helpful informative episodes.

当你们在YouTube上回答问题时，难道不是用‘they’代替‘he’或‘she’吗？

When you answer questions on YouTube, don't you use they instead of he or she?

我想知道为什么。

I'd like to know why.

现在我们来

Now we'll go

从Joking开始。

from Joking.

是的。

Yes.

这很有趣，也许当我们回复评论时，如果我们用了‘they’而不是‘he’或‘she’，这位听众就会想：我很好奇为什么。

This is interesting, maybe as we're responding to comments, if we've said they instead of he or she, this listener is like, I'm curious about why.

是的，我们今天会回答所有这些问题。

Yeah, we're going to answer all these questions today.

这是一个当今非常重要且非常有趣的话题。

This is a very important topic nowadays and really interesting.

是的。

Yeah.

我们会非常详尽地探讨这个话题。

We're gonna cover it very exhaustively.

对吧，奥布里？

Right, Aubrey?

当然。

Absolutely.

是的。

Yes.

嗯。

Yeah.

很好。

Good.

各位，别忘了在这里点关注按钮，以免错过任何一集播客。

And guys, don't forget to hit the follow button right here on the podcast if you don't wanna miss a single episode.

我们每周发布五天。

We've been publishing five days a week.

你不想错过。

You don't wanna miss it.

所以让我们直接进入你的播放队列，并点击关注按钮。

So let us drop right into your queue and hit the follow button.

好吗？

Alright?

是的。

Yes.

无论你在哪儿听播客，打开搜索栏，搜索“All Ears English”。

Wherever you listen to podcasts, open your search bar and search All Ears English.

你不可能错过那个亮黄色。

You can't miss the bright yellow.

那个亮黄色。

The bright yellow.

别忘了，这一集在YouTube上也有，我们有一个活跃的YouTube频道。

And don't forget, this episode is on YouTube, so we have a thriving YouTube channel.

所以，如果你更喜欢边看边学，和我们一起学习英语，可以去YouTube搜索“All Ears English”并订阅。

So if you prefer to actually watch us learn as you learn English, learn with us, you can go over to YouTube and find All Ears English and hit subscribe.

好吗？

Okay?

是的。

Yes.

太棒了。

Awesome.

好的。

Okay.

让我们来探讨第一个可能用‘they’指代单个人的原因：当这个人的性别未知时。

Let's dive into the first reason that we might use they for a single person, is when the person's gender is unknown.

这实际上是使用频率最高的情况。

This is actually the most frequent use.

例如，如果我说有人把笔记本电脑落在了会议室。

So for example, if I were to say someone left their laptop in the conference room.

我希望他们回来取。

I hope they come back for it.

我不知道是谁。

I don't know who it was.

我不知道他们的性别。

I don't know their gender.

所以我会说他们。

So I'm going to say they.

是的。

Yes.

或者如果客户打电话来，告诉他们我会尽快回电。

Or if a customer calls, tell them I'll return the message soon.

对吧？

Right?

你是说

You're it's

要说是他们。

going to say them.

对吧？

Right?

嗯。

Mhmm.

这是一个可能打电话来的假设客户，所以我们不会说他或她。

This is a hypothetical customer that might call, so we're not gonna say he or she.

我们直接说他们。

We'll just say them.

是的。

Yeah.

我的意思是，你当然可以说他或她，但那样太啰嗦了。

I mean, you could say he or she, but that just takes so long.

你知道的？

You know?

当我研究如何全面涵盖这些表达方式时，这很有趣。

And it was interesting as I was sort of researching to make sure I covered all the ways we do this.

我越来越多地在网上看到，当我们不知道对方性别时，说‘他’或‘她’，或者只选其中一个，对很多人来说已经显得过时了。

More and more I was seeing online that that's actually it feels outdated to a lot of people to say he or she or to just choose one or the other to say he or she when we don't know.

所以我觉得这真的很有趣。

So I was like that's really interesting.

所以，用‘他们’来表达是一种更现代的说话方式。

So this is more like a modern way of speaking to say they instead.

是的，这是第一个原因，当我们不知道对方性别时。

Yeah, so that's reason one, when we just don't know the gender.

那么第二个原因是什么？

Then number two, what's the second reason?

第二个原因。

Number two

是当你避免假设性别时。

is when you are avoiding assuming gender.

礼貌的英语在很多方面都会避免做出假设。

So polite English avoids assumptions in a lot of different ways.

是的。

Yeah.

例如，我可能会说：Maggie邀请了一位同事去喝一杯。

For example, I might say, Maggie invited a coworker to happy hour.

她说他们大约一小时后到。

She said they will be here in about an hour.

所以我不知道这位同事的性别。

So I don't know the gender of this coworker.

我不打算做假设。

I'm not going to assume it.

我就直接说他们。

I'll just say they.

对。

Right.

或者每个学生都必须在周五前提交他们的申请。

Or every student must submit their application by Friday.

在周五前提交他们的申请。

Submit their application by Friday.

对吧？

Right?

是的。

Yeah.

所以这可能是老师在一般性地提到某个学生，每个学生，不假设性别。

So this is maybe a teacher saying something that's sort of just like in general, one student, each student, not gonna assume gender.

我们就用那个代词吧。

We'll just use that pronoun there.

是的。

Yeah.

这可能就是直子想提到的例子。

And this is probably the example that Naoko was getting to.

我认为直子想说的是，当我们宣布学生提交问题时的名字时。

I think Naoko was getting to when we announce, you know, students' names when they submit questions.

有时候我们会读出名字，但仍然不知道是女性名字还是男性名字。

Sometimes we'll read the name, but then we still don't know whether it's a female name or a male name.

所以我们就会说‘他们’，对吧？

So then we will say they, right, to

指代那个女性。

refer to that feminine.

才有意义。

To make sense.

我之前没意识到这是在问这个，但没错。

I didn't realize that's what was being asked, but yes.

通常看到名字时，我们不知道性别，也不想做假设。

Often with a name, we won't know the gender, we don't want to assume.

所以我们用他们、他们的。

So we'll say they or them or their.

嗯。

Mhmm.

太棒了。

Love it.

这样保持了包容性和中立性，还能帮助你避免无意中用错性别代词，这是我们不希望发生的。

So this keeps it inclusive, neutral, and and it helps you avoid accidentally misgendering someone, which we don't want to do.

对。

Right.

我们确实可能无意中这样做过。

Which we definitely have possibly accidentally done.

所以当我们只知道某人的名字时，我们会道歉。

So we apologize when we just have someone's name.

有时这是一个只有字母和数字的YouTube用户名。

Or sometimes it's a YouTube handle with just letters and numbers.

所以我们尽量不假设性别，但有时可能会无意中使用他或她。

So we try not to assume gender, but we may accidentally say he or she sometime.

是的，当然。

Yeah, for sure.

这就涉及到第三点。

And that gets into number three.

这一点很重要。

This is a big one.

对吧？

Right?

嗯。

Yeah.

所以当一个人认同为非二元性别并使用他们/他们的代词时。

So this is when a person identifies as non binary and uses theythem pronouns.

在这种情况下，'他们'是该人正确的单数代词。

So in this case, they is the person's correct singular pronoun.

嗯。

Mhmm.

没错。

Exactly.

所以这种情况是：亚历克斯说他们会在三点加入会议。

So what this looks like is Alex said they will join the meeting at three.

对吧？

Right?

嗯。

Yep.

或者泰勒带来了他们的提案供审阅。

Or Taylor brought their proposal for review.

是的。

Yeah.

因为他们的性别认同是非二元的，现在很多人会主动说明自己的代词，或在社交媒体或领英上标注，以便我们了解，否则我们并不总能知道某人使用什么代词。

So because they identify as non binary, a lot of people will announce their pronouns now or have them in social media or LinkedIn so that we know because otherwise, we won't always know what pronouns someone uses.

是的。

Yeah.

我认为这里重要的是，只要你努力了，比如你承认他们使用“they”代词，并且在尝试。

And I think the important thing to get across here is as long as you are making an effort, like you're acknowledging that they're going by they and you're trying.

而且我们都会在这里犯错。

And we all make mistakes here.

你知道，我生活中有一些非常亲近的人就是这种情况。

You know, I have some people very close to me in my life that have this.

比如，我一个好朋友的伴侣。

For example, a partner of a good friend of mine.

即使在电话里，当我问起我朋友的伴侣时，我也会犯错，但我会立刻道歉并纠正。

And even on phone calls, when I'm asking about my friend's partner, I'll make a mistake, but then I just apologize and correct it.

就这么简单。

It's that simple.

对吧？

Right?

没必要搞得那么复杂。

Doesn't have to be more complicated than that.

是的。

Yes.

以我的经验，人们其实都很友善，对吧？

And in my experience, you know, people are kind, right?

他们不会自动就感到被冒犯。

They're not going to necessarily be offended automatically.

他们给了我们宽容，对吧？

They're giving us grace, right?

我有个朋友的孩子，我得时不时提醒自己用他们/他们的代词，我也犯过错误，但他们通常都很理解。

I have the same situation with a friend's child who I have to remember sometimes to use theythem and I've made mistakes and they're usually quite understanding.

是的，完全正确。

Yeah, completely.

所以，这其实也是一个建立联系的环节。

So, is like, it's a connection piece here too.

对吧？

Right?

这是一个建立联系的时刻。

It's a connection moment.

如果你愿意付出努力，就能建立并维持这段关系。

If you make the effort, you will be able to connect and maintain that relationship.

没错。

Exactly.

这是个不错的例子。

That's a good one.

这是个重要的例子。

That's a big one.

现在有很多事情正在发生。

There's a lot going on right now.

在与此相关的政治领域，我们不会

In politics around this, we won't

就不深入这些了，我们来谈第四点，奥布里。

go into all that, but let's go into number four, Aubrey.

完美。

Perfect.

第四点是关于假设性例子的。

So number four is for hypothetical examples.

所以，当你一般性地讲话，比如给出规则、指示，或描述一个泛指的人时，我们会使用他们/她们。

So if you're speaking generally, like giving rules, instructions, or describing just a person in general, a hypothetical person, then we would use theythem, for example.

如果任何人有疑虑，他们应该联系人力资源部，对方会立即回复他们。

If anyone has concerns, they should contact HR, who will get back to them right away.

是的，这感觉更像是一种制度化做法，更注重程序。

Yeah, it feels more institutional, more about procedures.

对吧，奥布里？

Right, Aubrey?

正如你所说，是规则和指示。

As you said, rules, instructions.

没错。

Exactly.

这在说话者和相关人员之间制造了一些距离。

It's putting some distance between whoever is saying that and the people.

对吧？

Right?

这很有趣，你知道吗？我之前谈到现代英语时，现在意识到，如果我们在这里用‘他’或‘她’，也会排除那些认同‘他们’代词的人。

And it's interesting, you know, what I was saying about modern English, I'm realizing if we say he or she here, we are also excluding anyone who identifies as theythem pronouns.

所以这是用他们这个词的另一个原因。

So that's another reason to say they instead.

没错。

Exactly.

一个好的管理者会倾听团队的意见，对吧？

A good manager listens to their team, right?

举例。

Example.

是的，这里也是同样的情况，对吧？

Yeah, same thing here, right?

我们只是在讨论这些团队成员。

We're just talking about these team members.

我们会使用他们或他们的。

We're going to use they or their.

好的。

Okay.

最后，当说话者故意隐藏某人的身份以保护隐私或尊重匿名性时。

And then lastly, when the speaker deliberately is hiding the identity of a person to protect privacy or to respect anonymity maybe.

对，没错。

Right, right.

正是如此。

Exactly.

比如，有人告诉我，他们对新排班不满意。

So for example, someone told me they weren't happy with the new schedule.

是的，没错。

Yeah, so right.

有人告诉了你，而当你向别人转述时，你不想通过性别来暴露他们的身份。

You've been told by someone and if you're saying this to someone else, you don't want to call out their gender to maybe narrow down.

也许团队里只有一位女性。

Maybe there's only one woman on the team.

所以，如果你说‘有人告诉我她不满意’，你就泄露了他们的身份。

And so, you say someone told me she's not happy, you have given up their identity.

是的，没错。

Yes, exactly.

如果你试图以对话的方式做到这一点，这可能比你想象的更难。

And this can be harder than you realize if you try to do this as if you're having a conversation.

你必须非常专注，才能不泄露身份。

You have to be very present to not give up an identity.

是的。

Yes.

这真的很难。

It's really tricky.

另一个例子是，一位同事提到他们感到压力很大，所以我正在帮忙分担一部分工作量。

Or another example is, a colleague mentioned they're feeling overwhelmed, so I'm helping cover part of their workload.

除非你不希望点明，你知道，也许他们是在私下告诉你的。

Unless you don't want to call out, you know, maybe they told you this in privacy.

你不想让人清楚地知道你在说谁，所以你只会说‘他们’。

You don't want it to be clear who you're talking about, so you're just going to say they.

是的。

Yeah.

或者还有其他情况，比如有人怀孕做检查时，不想知道宝宝的性别，技术人员必须非常谨慎地说话，说‘宝宝刚刚动了头’。

Or there could be other scenarios like when someone, if someone's pregnant and they're getting a scan and they don't want to know the gender of the baby, the technician has to speak in a very, very intentional way to say, Oh, baby has just moved baby's head.

对吧？

Right?

这种情况在英语中会出现在很多不同的情境中，奥布里。

It has to be So, this happens in a lot of different scenarios in English, Aubrey.

是的。

Yeah.

说得好。

Good point.

对吧？

Right?

宝宝刚刚动了头。

The baby has just moved its head.

对吧？

Right?

他们已经移动了头部。

They have moved their head.

没错。

Exactly.

有时候确实非常不自然。

It actually is very unnatural sometimes.

是的。

Yeah.

有意思。

Interesting.

好的。

Okay.

我们来做一个角色扮演吧，奥布里。

Let's move into a role play, Aubrey.

我们开始吧？

Shall we do it?

好的。

Yeah.

你和我正在吃午饭，讨论今晚我们要举办的派对。

You and I are at a lunch discussing a party that we are hosting tonight.

好的。

Okay.

好吧。

Alright.

有人把手机落在了咖啡馆的柜台上。

Someone left their phone on the cafe counter.

哦，如果他们很快回来，手机还在那儿。

Oh, well, if they come back soon, it'll still be there.

顺便说一下，我朋友今晚会带一位客人来派对，但我不知道他们的名字。

By the way, my friend is bringing a guest to the party tonight, but I don't know their name.

哦，我好期待见到他们。

Oh, I'm excited to meet them.

杰米也会来。

Jamie is coming too.

他们说因为工作可能会晚一点到。

They said they might be a bit late because of work.

真好。

Nice.

很高兴他们能来。

I'm glad they can make it.

如果有人早到，可以帮我布置。

If anyone arrives early, they can help me set up.

哦，有人告诉我他们会来，但想给你个惊喜，所以我不能告诉你是谁。

Oh, and someone told me they're coming, but they want you to be surprised, so I can't tell you who it is.

哦，真令人兴奋。

Oh, exciting.

我迫不及待想见到大家。

I can't wait to see everyone.

不错。

Nice.

好吧。

Alright.

所以

So

是的。

it's yeah.

有一些线索。

There's leads.

这里到处都是。

Lots of all of them here.

是的。

Yeah.

这里非常有趣。

Very interesting here.

所以我们来逐一分析。

So let's go through it all.

第一个情况是，我说有人把手机落在了咖啡馆的柜台上。

So the first one, I said someone left their phone on the cafe counter.

所以这是第一个情境，性别未知。

So this is the scenario one where the gender is just unknown.

我们怎么知道呢？

How would we know?

只是一个把手机落下的普通人，对吧？

It's just a person who left the phone, right?

没错。

Exactly.

我们不知道是谁把手机落下的。

We don't know who left their phones.

我们会说有人把手机落在那儿了。

We're gonna say someone left their phone.

他们把手机落在那儿了。

They left their phone.

而且即使，做个说明，即使比如说，因为颜色有时性别色彩很浓，对吧？

And even if, just a caveat, even if, let's say, like because colors are so gendered sometimes, right?

比如说，手机是粉色的，还闪亮闪亮的。

Let's say, like, phone is pink and sparkly.

我们仍然不知道这是否是女性的手机，也不会因此说‘有人留下了她的手机’。

We still don't know whether it's a female's phone, and we still wouldn't go and say someone left her phone.

对吧？

Right?

你同意吗？

Would you agree?

是的。

Yeah.

这是个非常好的观点，或者我们不应该这样想。我朋友的儿子现在12岁，特别喜欢粉色和彩虹，你根本无法从他选的手机猜出他的性别。

That's a really good point, or we shouldn't My friend's son, he's 12 now, loves pink and rainbows and absolutely like you could never guess his gender based on the phone he's going to choose.

粉色对男女都很好。

Pinks a great color for both genders.

所以你看，就是这样。

So you know there you go.

然后我说，哎呀。

Then I said, uh-oh.

如果他们回来，手机还会在那里。

Well, if they come back, it'll still be there.

所以再说一遍，性别仍然未知。

So just again, same thing, gender unknown.

所以我说，如果他们回来的话。

So I say if they come back.

没错。

Yep.

你根本不了解这个人。

You just don't know the person.

你不知道他们的性别。

You don't know the gender.

然后我说，对了，我朋友今晚会带一位客人来派对，但我不知道他们的名字。

Then I said, by the way, my friend is bringing a guest to the party tonight, but I don't know their name.

所以，是啊。

So Yeah.

而你只是在避免做假设。

And here you're just avoiding assumptions.

第二点。

Number two.

对吧？

Right?

所以你说，我不知道他们的名字。

So you say, I don't know their name.

对。

Right.

对。

Right.

对。

Right.

比如，如果你朋友是男生，你不会假设他带的是个男生。

Like, if your friend's a guy, you're not gonna assume that he's bringing a guy.

对吧？

Right?

你只会说，不。

You're just gonna say, no.

没错。

Exactly.

然后我说，我很期待见到他们。

And then I said, I'm excited to meet them.

所以我会再次用他们来指代，因为我们不知道这个人的性别。

And so I again am going to say them because we don't know the gender of this person.

然后我说，Jamie要来。

And then I said, Jamie's coming to.

他们说因为工作可能会晚到。

They said they might be late because of work.

这是第三点。

And this is number three.

这是一个非二元性别者的代词。

This is a non binary person's pronouns.

所以我的朋友Jamie，他们使用他们/他们的代词，我会说Jamie要来。

So my friend Jamie, who uses they them pronouns, I would say Jamie's coming.

他们说他们可能会晚到。

They said they might be late.

是的。

Yeah.

不错。

Nice.

接下来一个是同一类，说‘不错’。

And then number the next one is the same category, saying nice.

很高兴他们能来。

I'm glad they can make it.

对吧？

Right?

一旦我意识到你在使用非二元性别代词，我就会重复使用。

So once I picked up on the fact that you are using the gender non binary pronoun, I'm gonna repeat it.

对吧？

Right?

我当然会跟着这样用。

I'm going to go along with that, of course.

嗯。

Yep.