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A few days ago, I received an e-mail from the editorial department
manager of a big publishing company asking about the proper use of
the pronoun “they.” His question mystified me: “Can ‘they’
be used when referring to objects or things like chairs, tables, or
any other inanimate objects? My understanding is that ‘they’ can
only be used for persons and, in some cases, for animals.”
In my reply to him, I wondered if he was
actually referring to the pronoun “it” rather than the pronoun
“they.” This is because most people normally don’t have any
problem using “they” in either of two cases: (1) as third person
pronoun serving as the plural of “he,” “she,” or a group of
two or more individuals not all of the same sex; or (2) as plural
pronoun in reference to an inanimate or lifeless thing or to a group
of individuals, things, and abstract entities.
To show that it’s the most natural thing to
use “they” as plural pronoun for inanimate objects in the same
way that it’s used for persons, I gave an example for each usage.
With several people as antecedent nouns (usage 1): “Nancy, Bert,
and the two strangers came to the party uninvited. They demanded to
be served drinks despite the protestations of the party host.”
With two buildings—they are inanimate objects, of course—as
antecedent nouns (usage 2): “The twin towers were struck by the
jetliners in quick succession. They both collapsed within the
hour.”
I then said in my reply that problems would be
more likely if the pronoun usage involves the singular pronoun
“it.” As we all know, “it” generally can be used only when
referring to objects or things (like chairs, tables, and all other
inanimate objects) or to animals, as in this sentence: “The cat
chased the mouse. It finally caught the latter near the kitchen
sink.” As a rule, “it” can’t be directly used in reference
to persons. We obviously can’t say this: “The foreigner asked
the traffic aide for directions. It was obviously lost.” The
second sentence should be said this way instead: “He was obviously
lost” (if the foreigner is male) or “She was obviously lost”
(if the foreigner is female).
Of course, in those rare situations when
there’s no way of knowing the gender of the foreigner, it would be
tempting to use “it” as the pronoun in subsequent mentions.
That’s outright incorrect, though. The grammatically prudent
approach is simply to avoid the personal pronoun in constructing the
sentence: “Obviously lost, the foreigner asked the traffic aide
for directions.” “The foreigner was obviously lost and asked the
traffic aide for directions.”
There’s one particular sentence construction,
though, where “it” can be used as pronoun for a person whose
gender is unknown or irrelevant: “Someone’s rapping at the door,
but I don’t know who it is.” Here, it doesn’t sound right when
we use either “he” or “she”: “Someone’s rapping at the
door, but I don’t know who he [or she] is.” (It might be a dog,
who knows?)
When referring to pets, however, using the
pronoun “he” or “she” instead of the pronoun “it” is
sometimes semantically preferable. This is when the pet’s
endearment to the owner is evident in the situation being described:
“My pet cat Meowie is such a lovely, infuriating thing. She rolls
all over like crazy when she wants something from me.” Indeed,
using “it” in such situations seems unnatural, perhaps even
insensitive.
But back to the plural pronoun “they”:
Although its use as plural pronoun for people, animals, and things
is pretty straightforward, “they” does present some exasperating
complications when used to refer to the indefinite pronouns
“everyone,” “anyone,” and “someone.” Take these two
sentences, for instance: “Everyone realized they were mistaken.”
“Everyone realized he [or she] was mistaken.” Which is correct?
j8carillo@yahoo.com
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