I'm wondering, 'they' can be used as a gender neutral singular as well as a gender neutral plural would you be correct in using 'is' (the singular of 'to be' when referring to someone else, right?) after 'they' when referring to a single person whilst using gender neutral pronouns, or would you still use 'are' (the plural of 'to be')?
They are. "They" as a singular gender neutral pronoun has more uses that just to refer to genderqueer people. It's helpful when talking about a hypothetical person of unknown gender, for example, "If anyone finds my dog, they are to call...". It has been in use for much longer than some people realise.
"Are." You have to conjugate according to the pronoun in a strictly grammatical sense, even if your intuition tells you otherwise. Of course, you still say "[name] is," when talking about someone who uses "they," because a singular noun requires that. Similarly, the distinction between "one" and the impersonal "you" requires that one conjugates/you conjugate according to the pronoun present, even if one means/you mean to refer to the third-person impersonal only. It's just a matter of the grammar being more strict than the immediate application that you're using, in your case that of referring to a single person with a pronoun that refers to the plural.
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Not every intelligent person is a good writer. I, for example, am terrible. (Ha, I just proclaimed myself intelligent!) Although, what constitutes a good writer is debatable as well. Eloquence? Clarity? Substance? Cool-sounding Latin and Greek loan words like sycophant and anomie? All of the prior?
You would use "are" because "they" is plural in form. When it is used as a gender neutral pronoun, it is being used singularly (as in "each student should bring their own laptop"), but form usually trumps meaning. In that sentence, "they" is being used as a singular pronoun, but, since it is plural in form, it always agrees with a verb that is also plural in form.
I think we need a new pronoun if we want something both singular and gender neutral. "They" is a lukewarm, dubiously correct workaround, unfortunately. At least I got to say "they is" right there and get away with it.
They is the third person plural, and thus you must use "are". They are in Toronto for the weekend. They are coming to Vermont for the weekend.
"One" would work as a neutral pronoun, although it makes one sound... antiquated. "They is" is grammatically incorrect and sounds very awkward.
Hey, not even Southerners speak this way. Maybe backwards rednecks do, but not Southerners in general. Yes, it is always "they are" even if you mean to use it as a singular pronoun because it is actually a plural pronoun. And yes as someone pointed out the word "one" is a more correct word to use instead of "they" if you want a singular pronoun; however, no one really uses "one" when speaking. Or at least no one I know does. Anyway, it is always "they are".
