one vs his/her

[Allen165]

"Sometimes one has to work on one's mental fitness."

I'd like to know if it would be correct to replace "one's" with "his" or "her."

Thanks.

 

[yuriya]

"Sometimes one has to work on one's mental fitness."

I'd like to know if it would be correct to replace "one's" with "his" or "her."

Thanks.

I don't see why not except "his or her" rather than "his" or "her".
But then, one's is more convenient, don't you think?
However, if it sounds too formal, I'd use "you" instead of "one".

 

[corum]

"Sometimes one has to work on one's mental fitness."

I'd like to know if it would be correct to replace "one's" with "his" or "her."

Thanks.

Forget that sentence. Try this:
People have to work on their mental fitness sometimes.

 

[Raymott]

"Sometimes one has to work on one's mental fitness."

I'd like to know if it would be correct to replace "one's" with "his" or "her."

Thanks.

No, assuming you mean replacing only the bolded "one's".
Using "his" suggests you're talking about someone else, as in the following:
"The problem with having a husband is that sometimes one has to work on his mental fitness."
If you start with "one's", you're pretty much stuck with it for the rest of the sentence.

 

[Allen165]

Forget that sentence. Try this:
People have to work on their mental fitness sometimes.

I'm fully aware of the fact that the sentence could be written more elegantly. I used "one" because I wanted to know if "one's" was interchangeable with "his" and "her."

Thanks anyway.

 

[corum]

If the respective referents of 'one' and 'his' agree in gender, number, and person, go ahead. In certain nonlinguistic contexts it is possible.

 

[euncu]

What about "Sometimes one has to work on their mental fitnesses." ?

 

[Allen165]

What about "Sometimes one has to work on their mental fitnesses." ?

You might hear such a construction in informal English, but it's ungrammatical.

 

[Raymott]

What about "Sometimes one has to work on their mental fitnesses." ?

That might be becoming acceptable in informal English. It uses the controversial "singular they".
It might be used as: "Sometimes a person has to work on their mental fitness" But it's still not common after "one", and I would call it wrong there.