When it's late, I take a taxi but they can be expensive.

[Fredoon]

Could you do me a favor and say that in the following sentence, "they" refers to what?
When it's late, I take a taxi but they can be expensive.
Thank you in advance!

 

[5jj]

Taxis.

 

[Fredoon]

Taxis.

Thank you. The "taxi" in the sentence is not plural so why "they" is used? We can use "it" instead?

 

[Yankee]

Could you do me a favor and say that in the following sentence, "they" refers to what?
When it's late, I take a taxi but they can be expensive.
Thank you in advance!

"They" refers to "taxi" in that context, but "it" could be used to refer to "use of a taxi".

 

[5jj]

If 'it' were used - When it's late, I take a taxi but it can be expensive. - the word 'it' would probably refer to 'taking a taxi'. 'They' in the original refers to an understood 'taxis'.

 

[Tdol]

I only take one taxi but they are all expensive.

 

[jutfrank]

The "taxi" in the sentence is not plural so why "they" is used? We can use "it" instead?

It doesn't matter that the word taxi in the first clause of the sentence is singular. What matters is that the speaker has a plural subject (taxis) in mind in the second clause.

 

[Tdol]

There is no grammatical logic that says that if one word in a clause is singular then all words following from it must be singular.

 

[emsr2d2]

Could you do me a favor and say that tell me what "they" refers to in the following sentence? "they" refers to what?

When it's late, I take a taxi but they can be expensive.

Thank you in advance! There is no need to thank us in advance. Thank us after we help you, by hovering over the "Like" button and choosing the "Thank" icon.

Thank you. The "taxi" in the sentence is not plural so why is "they" is used? Can we can use "it" instead?

Note my corrections in the two quotes above. You need to study the correct way to construct a question.