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a poll: he vs he/she vs. they

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July 25, 2002, 18:32
shufitz
a poll: he vs he/she vs. they
In careful writing, where you are less casual than in day-to-day speech, what pronoun do you use to refer to a person of unspecified gender? Which of these would you write, for example, in an internal memo sent within a retail business?"Give every customer the service he deserves.""Give every customer the service he or she deserves.""Give every customer the service they deserves."
July 26, 2002, 02:29
arnie
In a memo (as opposed to a more formal document) I might use "s/he deserves".

If I were to use the third option, I'd say, "Give every customer the service they deserve." smile
July 26, 2002, 02:38
museamuse
I come across this problem very often when translating from Greek to English since Greek is inflected and the personal pronoun doesn't have to be mentioned. What I usually do is use the plural to avoid the sometimes cumbersome 'he or she'.

Eg. "Give all customers the service they deserve."
July 26, 2002, 04:46
shufitz
>> "they deserve. smile "

[grinning from ear to ear] That post under my name was made by astral, by the way. wink