Somebody

How can i the word substitute someone in the next sentence:

Somebody was outside,............. was smoking.

Should i say it was smoking?
i can't say he or she cuz i don't know if it's a male or a female.

I'd say it like this,

Somebody was outside, They were smoking.

You should not say ''it was smoking'' but ''they'' were smoking.

You never say ''it'' when you're talking about a person. If you don't no if it's a male or a female you can say ''they''.

Somebody was outside, They were smoking.

that's weird,
isn't it?
you say they even if you're talikng about one person

if you don't know, you can generalise:
Someone was outside. They were smoking.
or
Some people were outside. They were smoking.

if you think it's one person:
Someone was outside. He (or she) was smoking.

You could also say something along the lines of:

Someone was outside and was smoking.

This way you avoid the gender issure all together. It can be difficult to figure out what to say in English when you are talking about someone who's gender is not known because, unlike in other languages, the word itself does not have gender.

good question Dan!