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Guest Posted 22 years ago
Grammar
She,he or they?
What pronoun is grammatically correct to use when I don't know whether that person is male or female?
e.g
'Everybody knows that (they are/he is/she is) unique.'
'You can try to ask a friend if (they/he/she) can help'
I have noticed that they is commonly used, however in the second sentence
it would look strange.
Is it correct to use it in both sentences?
e.g
'Everybody knows that (they are/he is/she is) unique.'
'You can try to ask a friend if (they/he/she) can help'
I have noticed that they is commonly used, however in the second sentence
it would look strange.
Is it correct to use it in both sentences?
Top answer
Yes, correct in both, and it is becoming more and more formally acceptable (it has been informally so for some time), because we have no other adequate pronoun for a third person singular human being of unspecified ***. In your second sentence it may seem a little strange, I think, because presumably the interlocutors would know what *** the friend is.
- Yes, correct in both, and it is becoming more and more formally acceptable (it has been informally so for some time), because we have no other adequate pronoun for a third person singular human being of unspecified ***.
- In your second sentence it may seem a little strange, I think, because presumably the interlocutors would know what *** the friend is.
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1 Answers
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Yes, correct in both, and it is becoming more and more formally acceptable (it has been informally so for some time), because we have no other adequate pronoun for a third person singular human being of unspecified ***. In your second sentence it may seem a little strange, I think, because presumably the interlocutors would know what *** the friend is.
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