Can they be used while referring to inanimate objects? This person says no while the dictionary says yes.

Question

https://www.quora.com/Can-I-use-them-they-their-when-referring-to-inanimate-objects/answer/Arif-Khan-111?ch=2&share=1a0778a9&srid=uxvM34https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/they

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Who do you think we should trust more? A dictionary or a contributor to a website?

In short, Arif Khan is full of hot air. Ignore his posts.

CJ

AlpheccaStars · Answer

seraph42https://www.quora.com/Can-I-use-them-they-their-when-referring-to-inanimate-objects/answer/Arif-Khan-111?ch=2&share=1a0778a9&srid=uxvM34

That's a bunch of malarkey.

Below is a table of English pronouns.

Note that the singular third person has forms for masculine, feminine and neuter, but the plural form is the same for all genders. There is no masculine plural, there is no feminine plural, and there is no neuter plural. All plural forms are the same. This was not the case in Old English, which has masculine and feminine plural forms. But these distinctions disappeared many hundreds of years ago.

I wonder how Mr. Khan would solve the problem of the reflexive third-person plural pronoun!

This is an automatic door. It opens and closes by itself.
All automatic doors open and close by themselves.

And what about the neuter possessive?

And almost a third of all those surveyed admitted they choose books by their covers.

Can they be used while referring to inanimate objects? This person says no while the dictionary says yes.

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