8

In a Stack Exchange comment, I was corrected by referring to a user named alice as a "he". I said (context):

I know he thinks he needs all of the eigenvalues, but I've learned that ...

and was corrected to by another user

But a protip: the username "alice" and the pronoun "he" typically don't go together. Probably better to stick to gender-neutral singular they.

Which of these would be correct?

  1. I know he thinks he needs all of the eigenvalues, ...
  2. I know he/she thinks he/she needs all of the eigenvalues, ...
  3. I know they think they need all of the eigenvalues, ...
  4. I know the OP thinks they need all of the eigenvalues, ...

Clearly this question is related:

Is there a correct gender-neutral singular pronoun ("his" vs. "her" vs. "their")?

I'm interested in the last case where OP is essentially a pronoun, but the usage sounds awkward. Is there a good way to refer to OP or should I stick with "they"?

Improve this question
8
  • 6
    To the downvoter, I'm aware that I'm not an active member of the site and I may not be following the explicit and implicit rules. As such, I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me how this question could be improved (or doesn't belong at all)!
    – Hooked
    Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 15:37
  • 2
    I'm sorry about you receiving a downvote. It happens to the best of us. But well done on your attitude and approach!
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 15:42
  • 1
    I'm most comfortable using #4 (except "need", not "needs" since that refers to "they") - but 2 and 3 are OK too.
    – Kristina Lopez
    Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 15:45
  • 4
    @Mari-LouA I'm a big fan of the SE sites in general, and I realize that each site has it's own culture. The downvote is less important than knowing where I silently erred!
    – Hooked
    Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 15:46
  • 4
    Why wouldn't you just change the "he" to "she"? (Sure, I realize Alice Cooper might object, but that seems like a good way to resolve this particular issue.) But, to answer your general question, I would reword this, and use: I know the OP thinks all the eigenvalues are needed... Voilà! No plural pronoun, no gender-specific pronoun.
    – J.R.
    Commented Jul 25, 2013 at 20:47

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
6

As the comments say OP is a noun here.

He/she is too longwinded. "They" is gender neutral. Theirs, they're, they are, them etc.

I would go with option 4 as it identifies "them" as "the OP". Option 3 could confuse readers about who the actual subject is.

Improve this answer
2

For what seems to be the core of your specific question - I think #4 sounds better than #3; it's not 'more correct' gramatically, just a matter of style.

I'll repeat here what has been beaten to death elsewhere (including the question you linked): "He" is gender neutral. "She" is not; I'd think it a greater mistake to use "she", thus declaring an assumption about the gender of "alice" (esp. on the internet). Because "he" is gender-neutral, it doesn't actually suggest such an assumption.

"He/she" is a little off, as others have said "he or she" is a little clunky (although correct).

There are others (like the answer you linked), who know more than I, who will insist that singular "they" is OK. I'm sure those folks have a good argument, but to my old-fashioned, prescriptivist ears, it's not.

I thought of the same example as @Mari-LouA - "the captain". "The captain thinks he needs full engine power." / "The captain thinks they needs full engine power." Doesn't the former sound better?

Improve this answer
5
  • In regards to the statement of the captain, I feel that "the captain ... he" is expressively a gendered statement, at least to my ears (so a personal assessment). I'll freely admit to "he" being gender-neutral in most cases, in fact that's how I used it in the question that started all of this! Since however I was corrected, I wanted to understand the implications of each choice and how to avoid a mistake like this in the future.
    – Hooked
    Commented Jul 26, 2013 at 13:59
  • An honest question, when you say "prescriptivist ears", are you implying that in a formal sense, the singular "they" is not correct?
    – Hooked
    Commented Jul 26, 2013 at 14:02
  • @Hooked But does "the captain ... they" sound right? // I think it would be a valid response to say to 'Mr. Protip', "'He' is gender-neutral, and I am not making an assumption about alice's gender". Note that when I say "valid", I mean you would have a sound grammatical justification; that doesn't mean this is the only correct way, or that this is the optimal way to commnicate with people (bickering about grammar when not on ELU).
    – hunter2
    Commented Jul 28, 2013 at 5:59
  • What I mean by that is: The way I was taught, "they" ("singular they") is not correct, and "he" is a corect choice. That said, the link you posted provides a cogent counterpoint. If you check @nohat's profile, you'll see his position. I think it's fair to say that he would disagree with the very idea of 'correctness' in this context, and that he is well-qualified to make that case. As a counterpoint to that, there are other professionals/scholars who would take more of what nohat calls a 'prescriptivist' view; I suspect JohnLawler might 'lean more prescriptivist'.
    – hunter2
    Commented Jul 28, 2013 at 6:01
  • (Now that I just followed the link to the context: I think your response was fine, other than referring to "OP" as a pronoun, as MariLou noted.)
    – hunter2
    Commented Jul 28, 2013 at 6:06

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.