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Anonymous
Anonymous asked in Education & ReferenceTeaching · 4 weeks ago

pronoun it vs they?

Generally we do not use the pronoun 'it' to refer to humans as it seems demeaning/dehumanizing as compared to using the pronoun they (excluding he or she, etc). Are there any sources as to where this connotation came about? I have searched online but am unable to find a reputable source. 

Please help! Thank you :D

4 Answers

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  • 4 weeks ago

    You've got this the wrong way round. The word "it" MEANS a "thing" or a non-human being. It's not that people suddenly decided to stop using "it" for humans; it came into existence to cover a gap that human pronouns didn't cover.

  • Anonymous
    4 weeks ago

    the TN TN TN TN Ryu

  • 4 weeks ago

    It's not a connotation; it's the exact meaning of "it"- a pronoun used for a thing. The source is any dictionary. 

  • ?
    Lv 7
    4 weeks ago

    Simply:

    because "it" is neuter

    and humans (generally speaking) are not neuter.

    Before the "current practice"

    the pronoun used in cases of a sentence that was ambiguous or inclusive regarding gender

    was  the male pronoun

    which was a very long-standing convention in most Indo-European languages

    including even ancient languages such as Biblical Hebrew.

    That is to say: a sentence like this in modern times

    - A person should look both ways before they cross the street.

    was incorrect before around 1980-1985. (Why: pronoun does not agree in number with its antecedent.) The correct form was:

    - A person should look both ways before he crosses the street.

    In other words

    we've never used neuter "it"

    to refer to people.

    In any case, as far as I know the use of "they" as a singular inclusive pronoun originated about the time I mentioned, around 1980 or so.

    Notes:

    - in the late 70s I learned "use the masculine pronoun" in high school

    - about 1981 I learned at university that some people considered "they" to be more proper / politically correct in such cases

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