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Nice. Your rewrites instruct and delight. I "lay down my sword." I was really having hard time seeing how to rewrite those sentences. For the record, I support writing in a gender neutral manner whenever possible.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+lporrello=illumina -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lporrello=illumina -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Lauren
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2012 1:43 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: His/Her v. Their
On 10/26/2012 1:11 PM, Porrello, Leonard wrote:
> Show me how you would rewrite the following sentences so that your revisions are equally grammatically correct, grammatically complete, and as strait forward as the original:
>
> -A good student always does his homework.
> -If someone asks you for help, give it to him.
> -When a customer argues, always agree with him.
> -A secretary should keep his temper in check.
> -A janitor should respect her employers.
> -Every plumber has her own tools.
> -A nurse should always be kind to his patients.
I love quizzes, can I play? All of the examples can be easily by pluralizing the entire phrase.
-Good students always do their homework.
-Give people help when they ask.
-Always agree with argumentative customers.
...etc.
These examples do not present cases where a pronoun is necessary, let alone where it may be necessary to use a plural pronoun to refer to a singular person.
How about this example?
When creating a new user account, enter [his/her | their | the] personal information in the correct fields.
I would choose "the user's" for a reference in place of the pronouns or evasive, "the."
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Writer Tip: You have more time to author content with Doc-To-Help, because your project can be up and running in 3 steps.
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