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An application has the customer registry and when i click on it, there is a button "Turn inactive", when i click it the following message is displayed:

"This customer has outstanding transactions. It can't be made inactive."

Is the use of "it" correct because the customer is being referred as an entity? Wasn't suppose to be "he"?

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    "Their account cannot be made inactive". You could use "His ..." or "Her ..." if you know them to be male or female, respectively.
    – AdrianHHH
    Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 13:58
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    It may be more clear if you see it thusly: This customer('s account) has outstanding transactions. It can't be made inactive.
    – Davo
    Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 14:45
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    It's not clear to me. What can't be made inactive? The customer? The transactions? Something else? I would rephrase it like AdrianHHH says: The customer's account can't be made inactive.
    – stangdon
    Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 15:09
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    Thanks, @GabrielAbel. I would not refer to a customer as "it", because a customer is usually a person, or at least treated like one, and we don't refer to people as "it". At the same time, "he" implies a certain gender, which isn't really appropriate if the customer is female or an entire company. Again, I would avoid the entire issue by saying "the account" or something similar.
    – stangdon
    Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 15:44
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    Possible duplicate of Can 'it' be used to refer to a person?
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 18:34

2 Answers 2

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I don't think so. I don't believe the it here refers to the customer, but rather to their account. More context is needed to be certain, but I don't believe one can make a person "inactive" in the way implied here.

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  • Added more information about where the message is displayed. The customer is just a registration indeed. My question is if it's correct to refer to him as or if it's better to refer to the person the registration represents.
    – Gabriel Abel
    Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 15:33
  • The question is a bit abstract at this point. If you are talking about a real, live person, you absolutely use "he", "she", or "they" as it may apply. But the application is a digital representation. In OOP there is probably a "Customer" class/object which is being flagged as inactive, and that can be referred to as "it". And you're not making the actual customer inactive, you're flagging their account as inactive. @GabrielAbel
    – mstorkson
    Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 16:11
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I wouldn't use "it" for a customer, I'd say you should provide what you want to say. You can always use he/she

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    See the edit to the question.
    – James K
    Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 16:53

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