Just as we generally have names we go by, we also tend to have pronouns that we want to be referred to by. The difference between his and him lies in the usage of each pronoun. Only a Reckoning With the Disastrous Legacy of the So-called 'War on Terror' Can Heal the United States... What Bolivia Can Teach the United States About Democracy, Why the Republican Party Wants to Destroy Labor Unions, The Passage of California’s Proposition 22 Would Give Digital Platform Companies a Free Pass to Misclassify Their Workers, On Trump's Full, Flowing, Magnificently Brilliant Answers. ), This doesn't work for "Write your Representative in Congress and tell them ...", @PeterShor For a member of Congress, "it" could be appropriate ;-). That's probably why it sounds natural to you. Every day of the week, we publish the most important breaking news & views for the progressive community. Try to offend as many people as possible. An unprecedented economic crisis. These are our books. Nevertheless, singular they has long been part of the English language, and there are various posts on Language Log giving examples of it being used in the Bible, by Shakespeare, by the president, by the Canadian Department of Justice, etc.. Did you ever collect all those state quarters? 1.“Him” is the objective form of the pronoun “he” while the word “his” is the possessive form of the pronoun “he.” If you can't use “he”, “she” or “they” in a sentence, what do you use? It can be used as an adjective determiner expressing nouns or noun phrases in context rather than their attributes. 2 I work for Uncle Bill on his ranch, and he pays me six dollars a month and my board. Again, because people's genders tend to be private, the sharing of pronouns should not be taken as an invitation to ask for potentially private information about someone's gender. Please donate today. English Exercises > pronouns exercises. Support Our Work -- Join the small group of generous readers who donate, keeping Common Dreams free for millions of people each year. There is no need to resubmit your comment. Nice! Particularly one which is male? So the LL people are demonstrating that even on their own typical assumptions these people are not only wrong, but cannot be bothered to actually check to see whether their assertions are accurate at all. Mehak and cousin of ________ are going to the park. In the first sentence, the word “his” is used to convey ownership, and in the second sentence it is used as an adjective determiner. "He said, 'Use my words against me!'" If someone shares their pronouns with you, it’s meant to disrupt the culture of making assumptions, and to provide you with the information you need in order to refer to them appropriately. :-), +1, but note that the piece begins with "Using the plural pronoun to refer to a single person of unspecified gender is an old and honorable pattern in English…", and specifically points out that singular they is especially common with "everybody", "anybody", etc. If in doubt, ask. The name or pronouns someone goes by do not necessarily indicate anything about the person’s gender or other identities. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020, Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition Joe is a better writer than him.” Both the words “he” and “him” in the second and third sentences are used as pronouns to replace the noun Bob. It only takes a minute to sign up. Use of the words he/she, him/her and his/hers etc. PLEASE GIVE NOW, "In the spirit of RBG, we will not allow a double standard in how our Congress deals with late-term Supreme Court appointments. In the second sentence, the word “his” is used instead of the name of the person in order to keep from repeating his name. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Use of “a user” as the antedecent of “they”, Is this grammatically correct? Learn how to use His using many example sentences. Box 443Portland, ME 04112-0443USA, Common Dreams is a small nonprofit with a big mission. “him doing”) when re­fer­ring to the ac­tion it­self, not to the per­son. And this was his rather dismayed comment: I hear this more and more lately, even by those I know to be very intelligent. Without Your Support We Simply Don't Exist. Are there any mechanic tools that resemble an ice pick? Learn collocations of His with free vocabulary lessons. “Barry keeps insisting that the dog is his even though it runs away whenever it sees him.” Mavens frequently appeal to older meanings and usages to justify their arbitrary pronouncements. rev 2020.10.23.37878, The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, English Language & Usage Stack Exchange works best with JavaScript enabled, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site, Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, Learn more about hiring developers or posting ads with us. The books are for us. If a PC becomes stunned on their turn, do they lose the rest of their actions without losing any stunned value? Who Is The “Jack” In The Term “Jack-o’-lantern,” Anyway? In a business English course at WVU in 1987, I was taught to avoid the sexist language/agreement problem by making the subject plural: AnyoneAll the people who love the English language should have copies of this book in their bookcases. However, the second sentence would almost surely be misunderstood as “several girls being given the command position” rather than “one girl’s being given …” if it were spoken rather than written, and most English speakers would consider the second and the third sentence unnatural. "Singular They" as a substitute for "his or her" is much older than recent gender-neutrality changes. I consider myself newly enlightened! 3.Both the words “him” and “his” are used to take the place of nouns, but they are used differently in sentences. It was blank, but still. Tablebases say this position is drawn, but Stockfish disagrees-What does that mean? Dear Common Dreams Readers:Common Dreams is the one news source that cares about making the world a better place. 2each pupil introduce hisself -- Craig Brown, Co-founder, Support Independent Journalism. I don't think any of the linguists who post there would suggest that people should talk the way Shakespeare wrote, and I would wager a substantial sum that they never have. 4.“Him” is used to refer to a person who has already been mentioned while “his” is used to convey ownership or possession. We don't survive on clicks. They have a tea garden. @ShreevatsaR to come back to this old discussion, I think the point is that the usage writer doesn’t merely say “let’s not use singular, @The Raven most people who use singular "they" have no idea that anyone would think anything is wrong with it and are not nagged by a sense of trying to get away with something. Every donation—large or small—helps us bring you the news that matters. There are many battles to be won, but we will battle them together—all of us. HOW DO I ASK SOMEONE THEIR PERSONAL PRONOUNS? Second one (for writing purpose), if I believe the "THEY/THEIR (SINGULAR)" article. When talking about a person, particularly one which is male, instead of constantly repeating his name, we use pronouns such as “he, him, and his.” They are used as substitutes for the names of the persons who are being talked about. 'He Told Us to Use His Words Against Him': Early AM Protest Outside Lindsey Graham's Home Over RBG Replacement. Downloadable worksheets: PERSONAL PRONOUNS (SUBJECT-OBJECT) POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES AND PRONOUNS Level: elementary Age: 12-14 Downloads: 6857 : Object Pronouns Level: elementary Age: 10-14 Downloads: 3690 : PERSONAL … Why can’t gravitons distinguish gravity and inertial acceleration? I've always wanted to ask: What makes you (or the Language Log) assert that something used by the Bible, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, etc., etc., is "correct"? Please help keep Common Dreams alive by making a contribution. Some tra­di­tional gram­mar­i­ans would try to con­vince you that it is wrong to use the form ob­ject pro­noun + gerund (e.g. “Democracy” vs. “Republic”: Is There A Difference? Alternatively, if you are a female writer, your user should always be female; and if a male writer, then male user. We don’t just transcribe the events of the day, checking our values at the door. Taking Sen. Lindsey Graham up on his 2016 advice to use his words opposing the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland against him should a Supreme Court seat open in the final year of a Republican president's first term, a group of demonstrators gathered outside of the South Carolina Republican's Washington, D.C. residence early Monday morning demanding that he oppose the filling of late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat until after the November election. English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. english.stackexchange.com/questions/48/gender-neutral-pronoun, Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. On the other hand, the traditional use of the masculine gender to stand in for both sexes still doesn't seem too outré to me.