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Pucca Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

'It'?

Hey everyone!Emotion: smile

I have been thinking about this for ages, but, couldn't come up with an answer, so, I decided to ask it.

Great! I don't even know how to start or how to ask the question!

If we are talking about something and we suddenly introduce the word 'people', we can adress them (?) by saying 'they', right?
Then, what about the word 'person'? How can we adress that person without knowing the gender? 'he/she'? 'it'? Could 'it' act as neutral here? or, it would be offensive?

- There is a person who thinks (he/she) is right. Yep, if we use 'it' here, it would mean that the person things 'it' is right, it would be a direct object, right? I don't know how to call it..

Thanks in advance!
  

Top answer

Hi, what about the word 'person'? How can we adress that person without knowing the gender? 'he/she'?

— Clive

  • Hi, what about the word 'person'?
  • How can we adress that person without knowing the gender?
  • 'he/she'?
  • 'it'?
  • Could 'it' act as neutral here?
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13 Answers
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Hi,

what about the word 'person'? How can we adress that person without knowing the gender? 'he/she'? 'it'? Could 'it' act as neutral here? or, it would be offensive?

Don't refer to a person as 'it'. You can constantly say 'he or she', although this becomes cumbersome, and annoying to the reader eventually. The traditional approach is just to say 'he'
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Thank you very much, Clive!Emotion: smile

From now on, there will be no need to avoid the word 'person' then!
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Heeeeeeeh, too simple, that would be too simple... Emotion: wink
I think "he" is ok in theory, but I would never use it. I'd always use "they"
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Then, how would you continue this sentence?Emotion: thinking

Each person has ... own personality.
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I say "Each person has their own personality."
I don't know where you want to write that (the context), but I'd probably say "Everyone has their own... personality, problems, interests, etc."
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Can you say so? I mean, 'each person' is supposed to be in singular while 'their' is plural! Emotion: sad
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The singular "they" and "their" is becoming more and more common.

"Each person has his or her own personality" is more often being written as "Each person has their own personality."

Two years ago, I was strongly opposed to the singular their - but I've changed my thinking.
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I know! That's what's cool about it... it's plural! LMAO

There are a lot of threads about this (--> singular "they"), and a lot of stuff on the internet too. It's a popular "topic"...
Some people say it is not ok, and quite a few say it is not ok in formal contexts. However, I know it is used in formal contexts too (I can't remember exactly where, but I think you can find it in Mi
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Okay, that means that I can use 'their' too!

Thank you Barb and Kooyeen!

P.S: So, you watch The Simpsons, eh, Kooyeen? I know why!
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If you use the word "it" when talking about a person, it will be considred rude. "It" is a word that you should only use for inanimate objects, unless you are talking about an animate object whose *** is not easy to identify (such as a bird, an insect, a fish, etc.).

Although it is not gramatically correct, it is most natural to use the word "they". In fact, I think it would be very odd
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