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May Imam Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
GENERALLY...Should it be HE or HE/SHE ???
Dear Moderators and All,
Sth's really confusing me here... If you could help that would mean alot to me. When refering to a certain position, quality, major, job or whatever, do we generally use the word HE (refering to both sexes) or should we be more specific by writing: He/She???
For example:
1a- A successful teacher is one who understands HIS students well.
1b- You should not judge a leader unless you observe well how HE treats his followers.
OR:
2a- A successful teacher is one who understands HIS/HER students well.
2b- You should not judge a leader unless you observe well how HE/SHE treats his followers.
can example 1 refer to both sexes?? or should we write it as in example 2?!
Waiting for your reply,
May
Sth's really confusing me here... If you could help that would mean alot to me. When refering to a certain position, quality, major, job or whatever, do we generally use the word HE (refering to both sexes) or should we be more specific by writing: He/She???
For example:
1a- A successful teacher is one who understands HIS students well.
1b- You should not judge a leader unless you observe well how HE treats his followers.
OR:
2a- A successful teacher is one who understands HIS/HER students well.
2b- You should not judge a leader unless you observe well how HE/SHE treats his followers.
can example 1 refer to both sexes?? or should we write it as in example 2?!
Waiting for your reply,
May
Top answer
The anti-sexist faction has opened a can of worms in this area, May. The problem is that English is historically patriarchal (as are most of its Indo-European antecedents); often, therefore, there is no replacement for the traditional 'he' that is not awkward. Here are some guidelines: - If the *** of the referent is known, use the appropriate pronoun, 'he' or 'she'.
- The anti-sexist faction has opened a can of worms in this area, May.
- The problem is that English is historically patriarchal (as are most of its Indo-European antecedents); often, therefore, there is no replacement for the traditional 'he' that is not awkward.
- Here are some guidelines: - If the *** of the referent is known, use the appropriate pronoun, 'he' or 'she'.
- - If you want to rile the female readers, use the traditional 'he'.
- - To please the anti-sexists (most everyone nowadays), use 'he or she' (or 'she or he') or 'he/she' (or 'she/he') in a passage unless it becomes so frequent that it is awkward; in which case, go back and convert the sentences to plural if possible: 'Successful teachers are those who understand THEIR students well'.
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2 Answers
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The anti-sexist faction has opened a can of worms in this area, May. The problem is that English is historically patriarchal (as are most of its Indo-European antecedents); often, therefore, there is no replacement for the traditional 'he' that is not awkward.
Here are some guidelines:
- If the *** of the referent is known, use the appropriate pronoun, 'he' or 'she'.
Here are some guidelines:
- If the *** of the referent is known, use the appropriate pronoun, 'he' or 'she'.
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Additionally, a more popular approach is to phrase the sentence without s/he:
1a- A successful teacher is one who understands students well.
1b- You should not judge a leader unless you observe well how that leader treats followers.
All the best,
Note, if you want to rile male readers, use "she".
1a- A successful teacher is one who understands students well.
1b- You should not judge a leader unless you observe well how that leader treats followers.
All the best,
Note, if you want to rile male readers, use "she".
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