Joe's grandmother / She

[kohyoongliat]

Joe's grandmother's birthday was a week away. Joe's grandmother / She decided to sew a dress for herself.

Which word/s in bold should I use?

Thank you very much.

[aous02]

Joe's grandmother is the right answer.

[fiona bramble]

Agreed! The subject of the first sentence is "Joe's grandmother's birthday", so a pronoun referent in the second sentence would be confusing (who is "she"?).

[Anglika]

I am a bit surprised by these answers.

Joe's grandmother's birthday was a week away. She decided to sew a dress for herself.


Where is the confusion? In my view, "She" is the better option.

[kohyoongliat]

I am a bit surprised by these answers.

Joe's grandmother's birthday was a week away. She decided to sew a dress for herself.


Where is the confusion? In my view, "She" is the better option.

Thanks, Anglika. I was also surprised by the answer too. Maybe when they were answering, they thought Joe is a girl. Hence, the confusion.

By the way, is "is" correctly used in the above sentence? I'm confused because of the verb 'thought'. On the other hand, Joe is always a male person.

Thanks, again.

Best wishes.

[Anglika]

Maybe when they were answering, they thought Joe is a girl.

"is" can be used in this sentence, though more usually it would be "was".

[aous02]

I thought I have to choose between grandmother or she, keeping joe's.

[kohyoongliat]

Maybe when they were answering, they thought Joe is a girl.

"is" can be used in this sentence, though more usually it would be "was".

Many thanks, Anglika.

[Casiopea]

I thought I have to choose between grandmother or she, keeping joe's.

The subject is birthday, not Joe, not grandmother, and not Joe's grandmother.

Given the following two choices for the second clause, Joe's grandmother and She, both are acceptable but one is a tad redundant, which is why I'd choose the other, She.


[1] Joe's grandmother's birthday was a week away. Joe's grandmother decided to sew a dress for herself.
[2] Joe's grandmother's birthday was a week away. She decided to sew a dress for herself.


If, however, Joe is female, then rework the pronoun, like this,


[3] Joe's grandmother's birthday was a week away. Her grandmother decided to sew a dress for herself.

Does that help?

[kohyoongliat]

Thanks, Casiopea. It helps a lot.