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Itasan Posted 20 years ago
Vocabulary
it/he
Harry Potter
UK Versioin: "Harry counted out five little bronze coins and the owl held out its leg so he could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then it flew off..."
US Versioin: "Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off..."
In the UK version, the owl is referred to as 'it', while in the US version to 'he'. I wonder why.
Thank you.
UK Versioin: "Harry counted out five little bronze coins and the owl held out its leg so he could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then it flew off..."
US Versioin: "Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off..."
In the UK version, the owl is referred to as 'it', while in the US version to 'he'. I wonder why.
Thank you.
Top answer
Hello Itasan It might easily have been "his" in the BrE version too. I would say that as a general rule in BrE, "it" distances the speaker from an animal, while "he/she" indicates a friendlier attitude. Though of course the latter is only possible if you know the animal's ***.
- Hello Itasan It might easily have been "his" in the BrE version too.
- I would say that as a general rule in BrE, "it" distances the speaker from an animal, while "he/she" indicates a friendlier attitude.
- Though of course the latter is only possible if you know the animal's ***.
- MrP
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8 Answers
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Hello Itasan
It might easily have been "his" in the BrE version too. I would say that as a general rule in BrE, "it" distances the speaker from an animal, while "he/she" indicates a friendlier attitude.
Though of course the latter is only possible if you know the animal's ***.
MrP
It might easily have been "his" in the BrE version too. I would say that as a general rule in BrE, "it" distances the speaker from an animal, while "he/she" indicates a friendlier attitude.
Though of course the latter is only possible if you know the animal's ***.
MrP
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There appear to be other discrepancies:
[url="http://home.comcast.net/~helenajole/Harry.html"]More US/UK differences[/url].
MrP
[url="http://home.comcast.net/~helenajole/Harry.html"]More US/UK differences[/url].
MrP
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Thank you very much, everybody. This is the owl that delivered a paper.
UK Version: Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone, p. 72
US Version: Harry Potter and the sorcerer's tone, p. 62
UK Version: Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone, p. 72
US Version: Harry Potter and the sorcerer's tone, p. 62
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ItasanOh, I see Itasan... That's the owl that brought Hagrid his newspaper...
Thank you very much, everybody. This is the owl that delivered a paper.
UK Version: Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone, p. 72
US Version: Harry Potter and the sorcerer's tone, p. 62
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Oh yes, I've got it now! Silly me, he wouldn't have had to pay Hedwig! That's maybe when he couldn't use her...
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