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Yoong Liat Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Which word/s should be used?

0 Joe's grandmother's birthday was a week away. 01b00Joe's grandmother / She02b00 decided to sew a dress for herself.02br
02br
00Which word/s should I use?02br
02br
00Thanks in advance.0-
  

Top answer

0 Hi,02br 00I'd use "she". Joe is a male name, so it's not confusing. But if you changed Joe to Mary in your sentence...

— Kooyeen

  • 0 Hi,02br 00I'd use "she".
  • Joe is a male name, so it's not confusing.
  • But if you changed Joe to Mary in your sentence...
  • 050010id1
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8 Answers
0
0 Hi,02br
00I'd use "she". Joe is a male name, so it's not confusing. But if you changed Joe to Mary in your sentence... 050010id1
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Kooyeen12cite10Hi,12br
10I'd use "she". Joe is a male name, so it's not confusing. But if you changed Joe to Mary in your sentence... 15012br
12blockquote
10This is also what I think, but I wonder whether other members disagree with us.010id1
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0
0I'd like to use "The old lady..."02br
02br
00It kinda has something to do with the reader's general expectation in the discourse...0-
0
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0 In this case the antecedent is clear because of the gender of the pronoun but in other cases you need to be careful. For example: 01font01b00Joe told Adam his wife was seeing another man. 02b00In this sentence it is not clear whether we are talking about Joe's wife or Adam's.02font0-
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0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Maple12cite11b10I'd like to use "The old12b10 11b10lady12b10..."12br
12br
10It kinda has something to do with the reader's general expectation in the discourse...12br
12blockquote
10I helped an old 01b00lady02b00 cross
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Yoong Liat12cite10I helped an old 11b10lady12b10 cross the road.12br
12br
10Shouldn't it be 'I help an old 11b10woman12b10 cross the road'?12br
12br
10IMO, 'lady' is a polite word to use in the presence of a woman. Or when we want to be polite.
0
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Maple12cite10I'd like to use "The old lady..."12br
12br
10It kinda has something to do with the reader's general expectation in the discourse...12br
12blockquote
10You are also rather taking something for granted - the lady may not be "old". Grandmothers are often no more than 40 ye
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Feebs1112cite10 ...12br
10You are also rather taking something for granted - the lady may not be "old". Grandmothers are often no more than 40 years old. As the sentences stand, and taking it that Joe is male, then "she" is the obvious choice. The best way round it is to combine the sentences: 11font
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