He/she/they

Subject: He/she/they
From: geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA
Date: Wed, 13 Aug 1997 12:17:52 -0500

Barclay Blanchard wondered how to get around the dreaded
he/she/they problem. Barclay, it's usually pretty easy to
do, but you'll need to provide us with specific examples to
determine which solution fits best. Here's a starting
point:

Most times you'll simply be able to use the plural, so "he
does x" becomes "users do x". If the context is always
singular, you can often change your style to the
imperative, so "he does x" becomes "do x". These two
approaches, or a simple variation thereof, work in almost
every situation. If they don't work for you, provide
examples and an explanation of why (we need more context)
so we can have another whack at the problem.

--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.

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