# FR: anyone - singular, plural, and indefinite pronouns



## Petrie787

If I was to translate a sentence such as:
"If anyone here is waiting for an open checkout lane, I can help (him or her)."

How would I translate this into French, becasue generally in English we would say "I can help them" which does not actually make sense becasue the first half is a singular sentence and the 2nd then takes a plural feeling.

I would appreciate any help. Thanks!


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## Outsider

Hello. "Anyone" is what is called an indefinite pronoun. It stands for an unspecified amount of people or things. In English, indefinite pronouns can govern singular or plural verbs, depending on context, but in French they are always treated as singular.


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## ascoltate

Outsider said:


> Hello. "Anyone" is what is called an indefinite pronoun. It stands for an unspecified amount of people or things. In English, indefinite pronouns can govern singular or plural verbs, depending on context, but in French they are always treated as singular.



The French part of this is right (you use the singular), but not the English part. We use a singular verb EXCLUSIVELY with words like "Anyone" etc. as well -- ("DOES anyone know the answer?"  ; "DO anyone know the answer?" ).
The accompanying pronoun that is used in English is often "they/their/them" - this is a gender-neutral pronoun that is used when the gender of the referent is not known. It is grammatically plural (a verb following would be plural: "If anyone KNOWS the answer, they ARE welcome to provide it"), but it is still singular in referent. This is criticized by grammarians as poor writing style, but it is very commonly used in speech and even in writing.

For anyone who thinks it's a new practice, check out this article on singular "they" in the work of Jane Austen and other famous authors :
http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html


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## mnewcomb71

Why not say "...I can help you" and the same in French?


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## Outsider

ascoltate said:


> The French part of this is right (you use the singular), but not the English part. We use a singular verb EXCLUSIVELY with words like "Anyone" etc. as well -- ("DOES anyone know the answer?"  ; "DO anyone know the answer?" ).


I did say it depended on the context.


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## Petrie787

Thank you for the responces, but this only restates my point that switching from a singular to a plural in the same sentence is incorrect. So, I'm wondering how the above sentece would correctly be translated.


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## Outsider

« S'il y a quelqu'un ici qui attend un couloir ouvert, je puis *lui* aider. »


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## Petrie787

Thank you. I assumed that with French's gender-ambiguous pronouns it should be a simple translation.


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## ascoltate

Outsider said:


> I did say it depended on the context.



Yes, but it does not. It is always singular, without exception.

and:
"s'il y a quelqu'un qui attend... je peux l'aider"

singular, direct object


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## ascoltate

Petrie787 said:


> Thank you. I assumed that with French's gender-ambiguous pronouns it should be a simple translation.



The pronoun in question is not gender-ambiguous. "aider" just happens to start with a vowel. You use the masculine pronoun:

"Si quelqu'un est dans le bureau, je peux LE voir"...

alternatively, "une personne" is feminine, so
"S'il y a une personne qui attend, je peux LA voir"-- (that sentence is of course quite awkward, but there are other cases where it might sound more natural.


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## Outsider

ascoltate said:


> Yes, but it does not. It is always singular, without exception.


False:

"If anyone waits for an open checkout lane for too long, *they get bored*."

not "gets bored".


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## ascoltate

Outsider said:


> False:
> 
> "If anyone *waits* (_singular_) for an open checkout lane for too long, they get bored."
> 
> not "gets bored".



your verb with "anyone" is in the singular

I rest my case

You never use a plural verb with "anyone"

"they get bored" is a different clause.

According to your logic, "anyone" is also in the plural in this sentence:

If anyone comes to the store, the employees help out.

because "help" is in the plural...


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## Outsider

Straw man. In the sentence I wrote, "they" refers back to "anyone". Not so in yours.


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## ascoltate

Outsider said:


> Straw man. In the sentence I wrote, "they" refers back to "anyone". Not so in yours.



Yes, but a verb doesn't agree with a referent; it refers to its subject in the same clause.

Hence in this sentence, the two clauses have subjects that refer to the same thing, but one is singular and one is plural:

Congress HAS voted to approve legislation that the members BELIEVE will solve budgetary problems.

Like the "anyone... they" sentence


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## Outsider

ascoltate said:


> Yes, but a verb doesn't agree with a referent; it refers to its subject in the same clause.


When that subject is a pronoun, it is determined by the referent.


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## ascoltate

Outsider said:


> When that subject is a pronoun, it is determined by the referent.



No it isn't.
"They" is ALWAYS plural:

If anyone is waiting, THEY ARE welcome to come to the counter"
If anyone is waiting, HE OR SHE IS welcome to come to the counter"

the verb in the second clause agrees with its SUBJECT--NOT the referent, which is the same in both cases.


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## Outsider

Singular "they".


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## ascoltate

Outsider said:


> Singular "they".



That's chutzpah!
I'm the one who sent that link!!!!!

and what that means is "they" has a singular referent !!  It is still grammatically plural, as you'll notice if you look at the verb that agrees with it.


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