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  #1  
Old 23-Sep-2005, 16:48
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KAKTUSFLR is on a distinguished road
Default Proper use of She, He or They

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I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother or sister. And it's alright if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when "she" wants to crawl under the line because "she" is scared...................

Should the proper use be "she", "he or she" or "they"?

Thank you, Debbie

Last edited by KAKTUSFLR; 23-Sep-2005 at 16:51. Reason: Mispelled Proper
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  #2  
Old 23-Sep-2005, 16:54
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Default Re: Proper use of She, He or They

[QUOTE=KAKTUSFLR]xxxxxx[COLOR=Black]xxx[COLOR]

I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother or sister. And it's alright if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when "she" wants to crawl under the line because "she" is scared...................

Should the proper use be "she", "he or she" or "they"?

Thank you, Debbie
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  #3  
Old 23-Sep-2005, 17:42
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Default Re: Proper use of She, He or They

Quote:
your younger brother or sister
or implies only one of them, so the use of the singular pronoun is correct. Another example:-

"You can bring along your son or your daughter." means, "You can bring along either your son or your daughter but not both."
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  #4  
Old 23-Sep-2005, 19:05
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Default Re: Proper use of She, He or They

Thank you for your help. If I'm referring to brother or sister in the beginning, should I carry through with brother or sister or continue with only she in the rest of the text? Thanks again
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  #5  
Old 23-Sep-2005, 19:40
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Default Re: Proper use of She, He or They

That would depend on whether the brother and sister ever both together shared the room with that person. In that case, you can use "they/them" but you must first correct your initial sentence to and/or instead of or. If you don't want to change the wording of your initial sentence you can use s/he to mean that it can either be a he or a she.
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