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Is the following paragraph correct in a formal English article? Or there is a better way to write it? My doubt is about one and one's. Are they used in the paragraph correctly?

Thanks

One also can design one’s own strategy to show the advantages. This is useful, since one’s users are facing a new way of communication.

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  • whose users? The one who designed (?) his or her strategy?
    – Maulik V
    Commented Jun 21, 2014 at 10:30

1 Answer 1

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Using one as a gender-neutral personal is not unheard of in English, but it can sound archaic at times.

It is used in the paragraph grammatically, but whether it is idiomatic is another matter.

I would say that using either you or they is more idiomatic these days:

  • You can also design your own strategy to show the advantages. This is useful, since your users are facing a new way of communication.
  • They can also design their own strategy to show the advantages. This is useful, since their users are facing a new way of communication.

Unfortunately, in English, there's no equivalent indefinite third-person pronoun other than one, which is rarely heard outside of formal period (or satirical) discourse.

In answer to your question: yes, it's correct. But it's a little unusual, and as mentioned, because it's vague in referent, it can be difficult to track the participant which one refers to.

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