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Old 15-Dec-2007, 12:38
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Default Wording in Certficates of Appreciation

I would like to know if the possessive pronoun "your" in the following certificate can be replaced by "his". As such, it sounds more natural and logical to me:

"Certificate of Appreciation"
This certificate is presented to Mr. A
in appreciation of your enjoyable and enlightening seminar
held on (Date) at (Venue)..."

If not, why?

Thank you.
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Old 15-Dec-2007, 17:20
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Default Re: Wording in Certficates of Appreciation

If you want to avoid the problem of choosing to use the second or third person singular possessive form, you could just write,
'in appreciation of an enjoyable and enlightening seminar.'

But in answer to your question, if the certificate addresses Mr A in the third person - ' is presented to Mr A', then you need to be consistent and use 'his' not 'your'. It sounds a bit messy and confusing to use 'your' in this context.
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Old 16-Dec-2007, 10:19
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Default Re: Wording in Certficates of Appreciation

Quote:
Originally Posted by Clare James View Post
If you want to avoid the problem of choosing to use the second or third person singular possessive form, you could just write,
'in appreciation of an enjoyable and enlightening seminar.'

But in answer to your question, if the certificate addresses Mr A in the third person - ' is presented to Mr A', then you need to be consistent and use 'his' not 'your'. It sounds a bit messy and confusing to use 'your' in this context.
Thank you but I found samples (S1, S2) on the internet are using "your" instead" of "his/her".
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