On 26-7-2010 11:48, John Haltiwanger wrote:
It seems the most successful/widely adopted form is to vary from 'he'
to 'she' (so that in one sentence you use one, in the next another).
Some authors even change the gender within a sentence. This method was
adopted because 'one' (the "real" correct unisex pronoun) is just too
awkward for extended use. The morphographic he/she/he/she method reads
surprisingly well.
maybe male authors could use he and female authors could use she consistently (or we could get accustomed to 'it')
Hans
The trend that I have noticed (and which trips off the tongue most easily for British english-speakers) is to use the plural 'they' in place of the singular pronoun 'he' or 'she'. This avoids having to choose! For purists, it rankles, but then we have to accept that the language will change. Personally, for serious writing, I use the rather cumbersome, but grammatically correct, 'he or she'. I personally don't like 'he/she'. The use of 'one' as a pronoun in British english is pretty much dead and sounds very stilted to us - only the Queen and old school masters still use it! Using 'it' is not an option.
Best regards,
Richard
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