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#2 (permalink) Tue Mar 22, 2011 19:22 pm a person himself/herself/them... OR what? |
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Hello,
It depends on the circumstances.
If you are definitely writing about a male, then use him. The if you are definitely writing about the female, then use her. If you are writing about a single person, then use self. If you are writing about more than one person, then use themselves.
The only problem occurs when you are writing about a single person and it's unclear whether it is a male or a female. Nowadays, it is possible to use a singular 'themselves'. _________________ "Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened."
Terry Pratchett |
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Beeesneees Language Coach

Joined: 08 Apr 2010 Posts: 39144 Location: UK, born and bred
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#3 (permalink) Thu Mar 24, 2011 12:12 pm a person himself/herself/them... OR what? |
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Thanks for your reply, Beeesneees.
So it would be correct when I say 'a person themselves' whoever they are and no matter how Singular 'that person' (I mean the word) is, right? |
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Abeille You can meet me at english-test.net

Joined: 09 Jul 2008 Posts: 70 Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
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#4 (permalink) Thu Mar 24, 2011 18:28 pm a person himself/herself/them... OR what? |
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As a general ruule yes, but I'd have to see the context to say for certain that it was absolutely right in that situation. _________________ "Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened."
Terry Pratchett |
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Beeesneees Language Coach

Joined: 08 Apr 2010 Posts: 39144 Location: UK, born and bred
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#5 (permalink) Fri Mar 25, 2011 9:41 am a person himself/herself/them... OR what? |
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Yes, context would do best. I haven't my own examples but would love to see some from forum members to make a kind of map for this very use of 'a person self'. It is still a tricky point. |
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Abeille You can meet me at english-test.net

Joined: 09 Jul 2008 Posts: 70 Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
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#6 (permalink) Fri Mar 25, 2011 10:44 am a person himself/herself/them... OR what? |
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Please activate Javascript in your browser to listen to this audio recording | 74 Listened |
Hi Abeille,
The trouble is that when we are not sure about the gender of the noun, we are stuck with this awful himself/herself/he/she construction. You get sentences like: When a child first goes to school, he/she has to get used to being with other children. I personally prefer to say: they have to get used to .. Grammarians of a certain school then start jumping up and down and say: You can't mix 'a child' (singular) with 'they' (plural). Well I do, to avoid the construction above. It therefore follows, to be consistent, that you would say: a person themselves - and that would probably give our grammarian fraternity a heart attack. I must admit that it does sound weird. The answer would seem to suggest that we say instead: A person on their own would ...
This would seem to be a solution to your problem, I hope.
Alan _________________ English as a Second Language You can read my ESL story Present Simple |
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Alan Co-founder

Joined: 27 Sep 2003 Posts: 17284 Location: UK
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#7 (permalink) Fri Mar 25, 2011 13:32 pm a person himself/herself/them... OR what? |
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Thank you, Alan. I'm quite satisfied with the 'a person on their own' variant. It sounds 'politically correct', so to say, for both people and grammarians :) |
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Abeille You can meet me at english-test.net

Joined: 09 Jul 2008 Posts: 70 Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
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Memory vs memo | In front of vs. before |