its parents are occupying the seats next to you on the plane

[mrmvp]

The following text is from the book Business Results, Pre-Intermediate, page 47:

The biggest complaint here is about noisy children. Maybe you can avoid waiting in line with a screaming baby if you use the airline’s self-service check-in to get your boarding pass. But there’s nothing you can do if you find that the same baby and its parents are occupying the seats next to you on the plane.

Why is the possessive adjective "its" used in the following text to refer to "a baby"? I wonder why the writer didn't use "his" or "their" instead. To me, "baby" can refer to either a male or female, so "his" seems acceptable. I also think "their" is used to avoid sexism with both adults and children.

Could you clarify my confusion?

 

[jutfrank]

The writer is talking about the baby as an object, not a person.

 

[mrmvp]

The writer is talking about the baby as an object, not a person.

Thank you and I appreciate your contribution. I don't understand why the writer used the baby as an object. In which situation can I talk about baby or men as an object? It is a bit confusing to me. Thank you again.

 

[Skrej]

It's not uncommon to use 'it' when referring to a young baby, especially if you can't tell the gender. Also babies are sometimes treated as objects for the same reason - hence the expressions "It's a boy/girl' for birth announcements.

 

[mrmvp]

It's not uncommon to use 'it' when referring to a young baby, especially if you can't tell the gender. Also babies are sometimes treated as objects for the same reason - hence the expressions "It's a boy/girl' for birth announcements.

View attachment 6242

Thanks.

If you were to rewrite the text in post , what possessive adjective would you use? His or their?

Thank you again for your contribution.

 

[jutfrank]

I don't understand why the writer used the baby as an object.

The writer is suggesting that all the baby is is a noise-producing object that is causing discomfort to other travellers.

If you were to rewrite the text in post , what possessive adjective would you use? His or their?

Neither, and it doesn't need rewriting. Note that you can never use 'his' to refer to a human being in English unless you're referring to a male. We don't use 'his' as a gender neutral reference for people, and as post #4 has mentioned, it's typical to use the pronoun 'it' to refer to babies when the sex is unknown, not obvious, or unimportant. The same goes for animals, as you probably know.

 

[emsr2d2]

As jutfrank said, it doesn't need rewriting. The author simply chose one of two possibilities - "its" and "their". I suspect they plumped for "its" for exactly the reason given in the first part of jutfrank's last post.

Many's the time I've been heard to say (while waiting at the gate for a flight and hearing a screaming child) "I won't be happy if it's sitting next to me!"