"What Is Singular They?": Oregon State Guide to Grammar
Channel: OSU School of Writing, Literature and Film
Date: 2022-06-01

This video describes the rise of “they” as a singular pronoun, showing how it solves a grammatical conundrum and then comparing it to the transformed usage of “you” in the 17th century. Written and performed by Senior Instructor J.T. Bushnell, it is designed for high school and college students studying grammar, writing, or linguistics.

The School of Writing, Literature, and Film at Oregon State University sponsors this series. For further explanations of grammar issues and writing tips, please subscribe to the free SWLF YouTube Channel or visit https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/oregon-state-guide-grammar-terms. In the comments section below, feel free to suggest other terms you would like us to cover. Liking, sharing, and commenting on these videos will help us to build a rich digital learning environment around grammar and language. 

Below are a few more videos in this series. If there are topics you'd like to see us cover in the future, please let us know in the comments! 

"What Is Grammar?": https://youtu.be/vZjNznvqgEs 
"What Is a Noun?": https://youtu.be/0KxMjVcyS8M 
"What Is a Verb?": https://youtu.be/u9zegJ84mYI 
"What Is a Subject?": https://youtu.be/Kp65wGtoVF0 
"What Is a Predicate?": https://youtu.be/MniZqFm-pe0 
“What Is a Phrase?”: https://youtu.be/9TPo4jGtM8A 
“What Is a Clause?”: https://youtu.be/_Qxq-S0DQrw 
“When to Use Commas”: https://youtu.be/UWlVVlSYcTg 
“When NOT to Use Commas”: https://youtu.be/boQahPvFOLo 
“What Is the Oxford Comma (And Is It Really Optional)?”: https://youtu.be/yXJIkAOKxzU 
"What Is Passive Voice?": https://youtu.be/ppBq_Ulrq3w 
"What Is Parallelism?": https://youtu.be/UUaXS3k68kY 
"What Is Gender-Neutral Language?": https://youtu.be/lyPtjrEIgEw 
“What Are Dialects?”: https://youtu.be/TXtMB1vwVaM 
“What Is Code-Meshing?”: https://youtu.be/FwFZ7FRcDJU
“How to Use a Semicolon”: https://youtu.be/ZtyjVCdHFHU
“How to Use a Colon”: https://youtu.be/YkLtn5W9buY
“How to Use Apostrophes”: https://youtu.be/txSzXat3GM0
“What Is a Comma Splice?”: https://youtu.be/OTcvMKXEIus
“What Is Syntax?”: https://youtu.be/DrqILBzGZVE
"What Is Mood in Grammar?": https://youtu.be/s7-5-DtJf5E
"What Is (AND ISN'T) Standard Written English?": https://youtu.be/IVIK6PS8NEg