Gender

Question

Is 'baby' of a neuter gender in American English?

Clive · Accepted Answer

baby can be used for a girl or a boy.
Is this what you are asking about?

Anonymous · Answer

From Wikipedia: The word and term 'it' can be used for either a subject or an object in a sentence and can describe any physical or psychological subject and/or object. The genitive form its has been used to refer to human https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal, although with the passage of time this usage has come to be considered too impersonal in the case of babies, as it may be thought to demean a conscious being to the status of a mere object.

For example I have a sentence: 'Using a teether is a great way to calm your baby down and sooth its aching gums.' Is 'its' correct there? Or should I use 'his or her' or 'their'? I'm talking about the situations when the gender is unknown or unimportant.

Clive · Answer

I'm talking about the situations when the gender is unknown or unimportant.
In such situations, saying 'it' for a baby is fine, normal and natural.

But to refer to you own baby as 'it' sounds weird.

And if the parents are present, one normally says eg 'What a beautiful baby! Boy or girl?'

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks!

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