Hi there,

 

I �m correcting some compositions and as always questions arise. I wonder if I have corrected the following sentence correctly. It �s part of an informal email: "A person hopped off the car and do you know who was? He was Justin Bieber with a hood on." My correction is: "A person hopped off the car and do you know who they were? It was Justin Bieber with a hood on."  If I �m not wrong, whenever we want to make reference to the words a person or somebody or its compounds we need to use "they". And "it" because somehow you are introducing a person. Am I right? I guess it is going to be difficult for my pre-intermediate students to absorb all this.

 

Another question I have has to do with a natural/ colloquial way to say that you have made a mistake because you are a bit nervous. In Spanish there is one and which is also funny. Students tend to use it when they get grammar points after an explanation mixed up.  Does "make a mess with one �s mind" exist? "Get one �s wires crossed" / "Get one �s knickers in a twist"?

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Pedro 

"and do you know who it was? It was Justin Bieber..."

 

To get one �s wires crossed is a good expression for this.

To get one �s knickers in a twist (British) means to get worked up, often about something unimportant.

 

Bruce 

No, Pedro, this is just a different situation. You have been teaching it correctly (except if you ask old grammar teachers who will never accept "they" as singular). In this case, the "it" refers back to "who", rather than to "somebody".

 

Somebody is at the door.

Who is it?

 I don �t know.

Are they still there? 

 

Bruce 

You say "they" to refer back to "somebody" to avoid saying "he or she". You use the plural because it �s neutral in terms of gender. The rule doesn �t apply to "person". When you use "it is/was", this is to give information about identity. So you clearly state if the person is male or female. Therefore, no need to keep things neutral with "they".

 

 

I hope that �s clear (I �m writing with my small children around... It �s a bit noisy over here and concentrating is hard)