If I speak about a neutral sex person, what can I say to exprime a possession ?
Example: The student will use his or her pen to write.
Is it better to write every time his or her or is there a correct sentence about it ?
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2This link could help you: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they– A. DarwinCommented May 25, 2016 at 14:56
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2Related: Is there a way to refer to a person (using a pronoun) without mentioning a sex?– ColleenVCommented May 25, 2016 at 16:47
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1 Answer
You could write 'he or she' and 'his or her' every time, but it gets a bit tedious. The other option, and the one that I prefer is to use 'they' in place of 'he or she' and 'their' instead of 'his or her'.
There is an important difference though, compare these two:
He or she does not have money.
They do not have money.
So you are using "They" as if you were talking about multiple people, but in English it is understood you are talking about only one person. Sometimes it could depend on context. If I didn't already know you were talking about a single person, it might not be clear for me.
But in regular conversation it is very common:
"Look there! Is that a person sailing in this bad weather? They do not stand a chance!"
