White Hat
Banned
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2011
- Member Type
- Interested in Language
- Native Language
- Russian
- Home Country
- Russian Federation
- Current Location
- Russian Federation
Using "it" instead of "he/she" or "they" in legal contracts/agreements
Dear forumers!
There are times when there is a need to use a gender-neutral pronoun when referring to a person who is a party to an agreement. Most of the literature on the subject suggests using "he", "he/she", or "they". I have no problem with using any of those, but the text seems to sound a bit clunky. I've done some research and found that some native speakers use "it". Well, I know that "it" usually refers to inanimate objects, animals, and human babies. I wanted to know if "it" does really sound wrong to native speakers when referring to humans. Here is a piece of text from an agreement I found on an Australian website:
For registration the User shall give accurate information and, where such information changes over time, shall inform Keystone Healthcare Supplies thereof (to the extent possible: online) without undue delay. The User shall ensure, that its e-mail address, as supplied to Keystone Healthcare Supplies, will be current and an address at which the User can be contacted.
There are more examples of this usage available online. Can anybody enlighten me on this issue? Thanks in advance!
Dear forumers!
There are times when there is a need to use a gender-neutral pronoun when referring to a person who is a party to an agreement. Most of the literature on the subject suggests using "he", "he/she", or "they". I have no problem with using any of those, but the text seems to sound a bit clunky. I've done some research and found that some native speakers use "it". Well, I know that "it" usually refers to inanimate objects, animals, and human babies. I wanted to know if "it" does really sound wrong to native speakers when referring to humans. Here is a piece of text from an agreement I found on an Australian website:
For registration the User shall give accurate information and, where such information changes over time, shall inform Keystone Healthcare Supplies thereof (to the extent possible: online) without undue delay. The User shall ensure, that its e-mail address, as supplied to Keystone Healthcare Supplies, will be current and an address at which the User can be contacted.
There are more examples of this usage available online. Can anybody enlighten me on this issue? Thanks in advance!