Use of the words he/she, him/her and his/hers etc. (2024)

FAQs

Use of the words he/she, him/her and his/hers etc.? ›

The forms he, she and they are used when a pronoun is the subject of a sentence. The forms him, her and them are used when a pronoun is the object of a sentence. The forms his, her, hers, their and theirs are possessive in nature.

Rule 5. The pronouns who, that, and which become singular or plural depending on the subject. If the subject is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb.

RULE 4: Reflexive pronouns are not used as a SUBJECT or OBJECT of a sentence: We use reflexive pronouns when the subject and object of the sentence is the same person. But avoid using Reflexive pronouns as direct subject or object in a sentence. They are usually preceded by the subject or object of the sentence.

The term preferred pronouns is used to mean the (third-person) personal pronouns a person identifies with and would like to be referred to by. People usually state the subject and object pronoun (e.g., “she/her”) but may also include the possessive (e.g., “she/her/hers”).

Other gender-neutral pronouns include 'them', 'this person', 'everyone', 'Ze', or 'Hir'. If you're not sure which pronoun to use, you can also use that person's name.

Shortcut Rule 1: We should use the personal pronouns in the order of 231 for good results (I mean, Second Person, Third Person, First Person). The order 123 (First Person, Second Person and Third Person) is also possible when we admit guilt.

The Seven Types of Pronouns. There are seven types of pronouns that both English and English as a second language writers must recognize: the personal pronoun, the demonstrative pronoun, the interrogative pronoun, the relative pronoun, the indefinite pronoun, the reflexive pronoun, and the intensive pronoun.

Personal pronouns are substitutes used to refer to someone in place of a name, and they often attach a gender assignment. For example, use of he or him would imply that you are referring to a person as a man or boy.

“Unclear pronoun reference” (or “faulty reference”, “confused pronoun” etc) happens when a pronoun is used incorrectly so that it is not clear what it refers to. There are different degrees and possible causes for confusion - from very obvious ambiguities, e.g.: She threw her toy through the window and it broke.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's technical assistance publication Protections Against Employment Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity considers the use of pronouns or names that are inconsistent with an individual's gender identity as unlawful harassment.

What are the weak possessive pronouns? ›

The weak possessives (also called possessive determiners) function as determiners in front of nouns (as in "My phone is broken"). The weak possessives are my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. In contrast, the strong (or absolute) possessive pronouns stand on their own: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, and theirs.

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Personal pronouns take the place of common or proper nouns. Possessive pronouns show ownership. Relative pronouns link two pronouns into one complete thought or statement.

A possessive pronoun is a pronoun used to indicate indicate ownership (e.g., 'This hat is mine'). The English possessive pronouns are mine, ours, yours, his, hers, theirs, and whose.

The ze/hir, ze/zir pronoun sets come from the trans community as another gender-neutral pronoun set. It's up to each individual to decide which pronoun best fits them and their identities. Ze is typically pronounced like the letter Z.

Instead you should use gender-neutral language. A common way to do this is to use the plural 'they'. This is becoming more and more common in standard English.

Replace instances of "you" in your essay either by using "individual" or "one" to refer to a single hypothetical person and using "people" to refer to a large group to whom something you're saying applies. Replace instances of "your" in your essay by using the possessive forms of "individual," "one," and "people."

Some examples of personal pronouns are I, you, he, she, we, they, him, her, he, she, us and them. Subject Pronouns are pronouns that perform the action in a sentence. Some examples of subject pronouns are I, you, we, he, she, it, they and one. Object Pronouns are pronouns that receive the action in a sentence.

Pronouns are special words that are used to replace nouns to prevent repetition of words. These are used to make our sentences shorter and less repetitive. Examples of pronouns are he, she, it, I, you, who, whose, everyone, her, him, mine, etc.

The form/case of the pronoun must reflect how it functions in the sentence. If the pronoun acts as the subject it takes the nominative form/case. If the pronoun acts as the object, it takes the objective form/case. If the pronoun reflects ownership, it takes the possessive form /case.

The Nine Types of Pronoun

Personal pronouns (e.g., he, they, we) Demonstrative pronouns (e.g., this, that, these) Interrogative pronouns (e.g., which, who, whose) Indefinite pronouns (e.g., none, several, any)