[Grammar] If anyone wants to join my organisation, HE IS/THEY ARE welcome.

[Sahil Dhankhar]

This is not my homework.

Which of the following is correct and if both are correct ,do they have same meaning?

1:-If anyone wants to join my organisation, HE IS welcome.
2:-If anyone wants to join me organisation, THEY ARE welcome.


Thanks for replying.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

Use n°2.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


1. If anyone wants to join, s/he is welcome.

2. If anyone wants to join, they are welcome.

3. If anyone wants to join, he is welcome.

In 2015, people are expected to use #1 or #2.

#3 is no longer considered polite, for most people now feel that "he" does not take into consideration that at least 50% of the population is female.

Although the word "they" does not match "anyone," it is now the usual practice to use it in speaking and in writing.

 

[Sahil Dhankhar]

But I think "anyone" being singular identity should use he/she or simply he as relative pronoun. Inst it so?

 

[emsr2d2]

"Anyone" is singular and as The Parser said, once upon a time, we would have used "he" and taken it to mean both men and women. However, in these days of equality, it is deemed unfair to use solely the masculine term. Many people find writing "he/she" over and over again very tiresome and somewhat messy. I agree. Over the last few decades, "they" has become an accepted word to cover both sexes, whether singular or plural. Some people still don't like it but I think they're in the minority.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Casting the sentence in the plural will avoid the problem.

If any individuals want to join my organization, they are are welcome.

 

[Barb_D]

Anyone who wants to join is welcome.

 

[Sahil Dhankhar]

If we talk on the basis of grammar, are all three correct?

1. If anyone wants to join, s/he is welcome.

2. If anyone wants to join, they are welcome.

3. If anyone wants to join, he is welcome.

 

[Rover_KE]

Yes, they are , but for the reason explained above you should not use #3.

 

[Barb_D]

Pardon me for dragging out my soapbox again, but it should be noted that the objection to "he" is not a recent "feminist" issue. It was in the 1800s when it was decided that "he" should be used for both sexes. Prior to that, "they" was happily and widely used in writing the way we use it now. The use of "he" was popular only for about 150 years. I can provide several links to this if you care, but I am sick of people saying it's whining women who have made the use of the "ungrammatical" they necessary when "they" was considered fine for a very, very long time.

 

[emsr2d2]

I stand corrected.

 

[Barb_D]

And as I re-read my post, I realize how nasty I sounded, and I would never intentionally write something to insult Ems.
My public apology for sounding like a jerk.

 

[emsr2d2]

No apology required! You were quite right to point it out. I was indeed under the impression that the 'using "he" to cover both sexes' issue came about as part of the same overtly feminist pressure.

For my part, in these days of political correctness, I am tired of "whining women" trying to get words like "manhole" changed to "person-hole" and similar nonsense.

[And before I get lambasted by anyone, I would like to point out that I am female.]

 

[TheParser]

It was in the 1800s when it was decided that "he" should be used for both sexes. Prior to that, "they" was happily and widely used in writing the way we use it now.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Wow! I really learned something new today. Now I can say something like "Everybody should bring their book" without cringing.

I did some Googling, and I found one article that mentions a book entitled A New Grammar. It was published in 1745 in Britain. It helped popularize the idea that "he" should be used to refer to either gender. Oh, by the way, the author was Ann Fisher!

That article tells us that even though -- as Barb D told us -- people were urged to use "he" to refer to both genders, many authors did not go along with the "order" The article tells us that Jane Austen, for example, had no problem with the gender-neutral "they."


Source: Google result entitled "Why Doesn't English Have A Gender-Neutral Pronoun?" Lauren Davis

 

[MikeNewYork]

In fact, the use of "he" as the default pronoun WAS assaulted by the feminist movement. I am not saying that was wrong, but it is factual. 150 years of tradition is a long time. It did not disappear on its own.

 

[Raymott]

Prior to that, "they" was happily and widely used in writing the way we use it now. The use of "he" was popular only for about 150 years. I can provide several links to this if you care

Thanks, Barb. I'd like to read one or two of those links, especially to find out how "he" came to be chosen as the default.

 

[Barb_D]

As the Parser said, it was actually a woman who led the movement advocating for it. Never did understand that.
http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/austheir.html#X1x -- here's one.