The student was able to finish his/her homework

R

rid82

Member
Spanish (Madrid)
Hi,

I have a question regarding the use of the third person when it is not know the gender of the person.

By instance, if I am writing about "a student", should I write:
The student was able to finish HIS homework
or
The student was able to finish HER homework
or
The student was able to finish HIS/HER homework
or
The student was able to finish HER/HIS homework
?

thanks!
 
    • ok, maybe this example is not correct.
    Anyway the question is still there, I don't know which pronoun to use when the gender is unknown...
     
    Although not really grammatically correct, we use "they"

    "The student was able to finish their homework"

    The grammatically correct version would be:
    "The student was able to finish his/her homework"
     
    thanks.
    I am preparing TOEFL so I need the correct version I guess :)

    I've read TOEFL papers where the writer uses the feminine pronouns in this kind of situation, so I got confused.
     
    Más vale no usar ningún pronombre. En la vida común y corriente, creo que raramente hablamos de un estudiante sin saber el género, y en en caso de que sí, lo hacemos. entonces yo diría por ejemplo,
    The student was able to finish the homework.
    Si se trata del caso en plural, los pronombres son " they " y " their.
    The students were able to finish their home work. They were able to finish their homework
    Saludos.
     
    rid82 said:
    thanks.
    I am preparing TOEFL so I need the correct version I guess :)

    I've read TOEFL papers where the writer uses the feminine pronouns in this kind of situation, so I got confused.
    Click to expand...

    The traditional view was that his meant both female and male, but now that is considered sexist by many. His or her seems the safe option these days (and less so his/her). The plural "students" and "their", of course, gets you out of this problem, as was already mentioned.

    I think the key is to figure out how TOEFL wants you to answer this question.

    Cheers
     
    I think it's a good idea to express sensivity when the context e.g. TOEFL demands it so a viable strategy is to try and avoid using a specific pronoun whenever you can, using the examples given above but where it becomes clumsy you can use his/her or better, open with a declaration that says that wherever you use his, you intend it to refer to both genders.

    That'll keep 'em off your tail!
     
    But many people are offended by using "his" to mean both "his" and "her" so I think that you should find out what TOEFL wants. On the TOEFL test, definitely do NOT use "their" since it is grammatically incorrect. (Although very much used in spoken English in the U.S.!)
     
    I know this is an extremely old post, but I just wanted to add to it in case anyone comes across it in the future! 'Their' is perfectly acceptable in British English for a singular possessive pronoun of someone of an unidentified gender. In the Oxford English Dictionary the second entry for their is – "Belonging to or associated with a person of unspecified sex (used in place of 'his' or 'his or her')."
     
    Good point, Scrimp. However, do remember that the OED records usage and does not prescribe correct grammar. A recent OED entry is "literally" as an emphasiser, as in "she literally flew off the handle". I for one will not be using the word in this way.:D
     
    Thanks for the reply Wandering JJ. I hate the use of 'literally' in that context too!

    In defence of the OED it says about 'literally' being used in that way – Usage: In its standard use literally means 'in a literal sense'. In recent years an extended use of literally has become very common, where it is used for effect in non-literal contexts (as in we literally killed ourselves laughing), but this is not acceptable in standard English.
    It says something similar on the online version of the OED too.
     
    Just a detail. All the problems about using 'their' in that case would disappear if people would remember that English already has 'you' for singular and plural. I believe the usage of 'their' is becoming the norm (for what I hear and read).
     
    Singular "they" has existed longer than singular "you".

    Language is a living, breathing thing, in constant change; however, singular "they" has been a thing for ages. (Literally.)

    "Somebody left their phone here."
    "Did you talk to the clerk? What did they say?"

    I agree with those above that, if this is a question on a certification test, find out what the test wants the answer to be.

    But for everyone else, just needing to know the best way to phrase the sentence:
    The student was able to finish their homework
     
    Just let me add that we don't use 'they' only when we don't know the sex of the student, but also when we know it but it's irrelevant, or we know it but don't want everybody to know it (we may want to hide it, actually).
     
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