With vs For vs On

Question

I read this and the it said "late for" and I thought it might be off?

"If one is late for/on/with their period, taking this medicine will make there period come/arrive/might kick in." say doctor Goldstein a UCLA gynecologist.

Thank you

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Wow!   It sounds like Dr. Goldstein wasn't born in the US.  Clearly the use of both "their" and "there" shows they're off.  <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>  I would look for another source.  Try one that can actually write in English or is at least writing in a language in which they are fluent.

Khoff · Answer

The whole sentence is "off." "If one is late for/on/with their period" makes it sounds like it's the person's fault -- like the period is just waiting somewhere for the woman to catch up with it. Normally we would talk about the period being late, not the woman. Also, I have no objections to the use of "their" as a gender-neutral singular pronoun, (not "there") but it's not necessary here. Only women have periods -- it's okay to go ahead and say "her period."

"taking this medicine will make there period come/arrive/might kick in" is also awkward -- even apart from fact that "might kick in" is not parallel to "come/arrive." Will it come, or might it come? Doesn't it depend on why it's late? A more normal way of saying the whole thing would be, "If a woman's period is late, this drug might bring it on."

"say doctor Goldstein a UCLA gynecologist." -- this should be: 'says Dr. (first name?) Goldstein, a UCLA gynocologist.

It certainly looks as though it was not written by a native speaker, and/or that Dr. Goldstein is not a native speaker.

With vs For vs On

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