AEE: Can You Use “They” for One Person?

All Ears English Podcast

Lindsay McMahon

Education, Language Learning, Business

4.6 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 20 December 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Want to know your English level? Take our free English-level quiz here to find out what your current English level is. Do you love All Ears English? Try our other podcasts here: Business English Podcast: Improve your Business English with 3 episodes per week, featuring Lindsay, Michelle, and Aubrey IELTS Energy Podcast: Learn IELTS from a former Examiner and achieve your Band 7 or higher, featuring Lindsay McMahon and Aubrey Carter with Jessica Beck in previous episodes Visit our website here or https://lnk.to/website-sn If you love this podcast, hit the follow button now so that you don't miss five fresh and fun episodes every single week. Don’t forget to leave us a review wherever you listen to the show. Send your English question or episode topic idea to [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an all-ears English podcast. Can you use they for one person?
0:07.0	Welcome to the all-ears English podcast downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling
0:14.4	stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your
0:23.9	American host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS Whiz, and Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer,
0:31.6	coming to you from Arizona and Colorado USA. And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to all
0:42.4	earsenglish.com forward slash subscribe. Do you get confused when you hear native speakers use
0:52.8	they and not refer to a specific gender?
0:55.9	There are actually five reasons we might do this in English.
0:59.3	Get all five of them today.
1:06.9	Take our five-minute survey and tell us what's helping your English, what's holding you back and what you want more of from All-Ears English in 2026.
1:17.2	If you complete the survey, you'll be entered to win a free virtual meet and greet with the All-Ears English host of your choice.
1:24.6	Your feedback directly shapes our podcast and courses and your voice truly
1:30.4	matters here. Take the survey now at all-earsenglish.com slash survey, S-U-R-V-E-Y. We can't wait to hear from you.
1:50.9	Hey, Lindsay, how are you? I'm doing pretty well today. Aubrey, the sun is shining in Denver as usual. Nice, it's actually raining in Phoenix, which is very rare for us. Yeah, that's very rare. That's crazy.
1:57.1	I love it. I love the smell when it rains. Oh, I bet. Yeah, there's a different smell when it hits the pavement, especially if the pavement's warm. Right. I love it. I have a random. Oh, I bet. Yeah, there's a different smell when it hits the pavement,
2:02.2	especially if the pavement's warm. Yeah, right. I love it. Yeah. But I have a totally off subject question for
2:08.0	you. Are you ready? Yes, let's hear it. Okay. Do you ever use they to refer to one person?
2:14.4	Yeah, definitely. There's actually five different ways that we do this in English. So this
2:20.8	happens a lot that I'll say they because I don't know if it's a he or she, right? There's different
2:26.7	reasons. Or maybe I'm protecting someone's anonymity. So this is going to be interesting to
2:32.6	dive into all of the reasons that you might say
2:35.2	they when you're referring to just one person. Yes, I love it. And so there are a few questions
	...

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