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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

The individual in the nation means the same as all?

Hi. Please help. Is it correct to use the phrase "the individual in the nation" in the following sentence to refer to the all the individuals in the nation? Also could we use the pronoun "their" instead of "his or her"? Thank you in advance.

God punished the individual in the nation according to his or her sins.
  

Top answer

The problem is that the phrasing is a little odd as well, but 'his and her' is definitely turgid there. *** punished the citizens according to their sins. Of course, if it is actually a biblified text, then you can forget political correctness and boldly use 'he": *** punished each citizen according to his sins.

— Mister Micawber

  • The problem is that the phrasing is a little odd as well, but 'his and her' is definitely turgid there.
  • *** punished the citizens according to their sins.
  • Of course, if it is actually a biblified text, then you can forget political correctness and boldly use 'he": *** punished each citizen according to his sins.
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1 Answers
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The problem is that the phrasing is a little odd as well, but 'his and her' is definitely turgid there.

*** punished the citizens according to their sins.

Of course, if it is actually a biblified text, then you can forget political correctness and boldly use 'he":

*** punished each citizen according to his sins.
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