In English, a person's gender is explicit in the third
person singular pronouns However, there are no personal
pronouns that can refer to someone (as
opposed to something) without identifying whether that person is male or
female. So, what should you do in sentences such as these?
In the past, people tended to use the pronouns he, his, him,
or himself in situations like this:
If your child is thinking about a gap year, he can
get good advice from this website.
A researcher has to be completely objective in his findings.
Today, this approach is seen as outdated and sexist. There
are other options which allow you to arrive at a ‘gender-neutral’
solution, as follows:
- You can use the wording ‘he or she’, ‘his or her’, etc. This can work well, as long as you don’t have to keep repeating ‘he or she’, ‘his or her’, etc. throughout a piece of writing.
If your child is thinking about a gap year, he
or she can get good advice from this website.
A researcher has to be completely objective in his or her findings.
A researcher has to be completely objective in his or her findings.
·
You can make
the relevant noun plural, rewording the sentence as necessary. This
approach won’t always be possible.
If your children are
thinking about a gap year, they can get good advice from this
website.
Researchers have to be completely objective in their findings.
- You can use the plural pronouns ‘they’, ‘them’, ‘their’ etc., despite the fact that, technically, they are referring back to a singular noun:
If your child is
thinking about a gap year, they can get good advice from this
website.
A researcher has
to be completely objective in their findings.
Although indefinite pronouns someone, somebody, etc…
function with a singular
verb:
I know someone who gives piano lessons.
We often use the plural pronoun they to refer back to them when
we do not know if the person is male or female:
Never judge someone by the way they look. (or Never
judge someone by the way he or
she looks.)
