6. Felsőfokú (advanced) – 7. hét

GENDER

Usually men are ‘he’, women are ‘she’
and things and animals are ‘it’

SHE, HE

in the past English has used ‘he’ in reference applying
to both men and women, and when the sex of the person referred to is not known.

A lawyer must keep his own criminal record clean!

We never found out who did it, but we hope he feels quilty.

To avoid sexist language some people use ‘he or she’,
especially in a formal style

A lawyer must keep his or her criminal record clean!

In an informal style ‘they’ is often used to mean
‘he or she’

If anybody wants to come, they are welcome to.

If anybody calls the office tell them I’m busy.

If anybody wants to check their e-mails, they must ask
permission first.

MAN

Using ‘man’ and ‘mankind’ to refer to the human race
(men and women) is also avoided by some people, considering sexist. ‘People,
human race, humanity or humankind’ are used instead.

Some words ending in ‘-man’ are also avoided when
referring to women or when the sex of the person is unknown. ‘-person’ is used
in the latter cases, and ‘-woman’ in the former.

chairman – chairperson (chairwoman)

spokesman – spokeswoman (spokesperson)

animals, cars, countries, ships

We sometimes refer to animals as ‘he’ or ‘she’, especially
when we attribute personality or feelings to them (especially true of pets and
domesticated animals, but also in nature documentaries)

Have you given the dog his dinner?

The lionnes will hunt for and feed her cubs until they
are big enough to do it alone.

‘she’ is sometimes used for motor vehicles and for
boats and ships, otherwise ‘it’ is used.

Likewise, ‘she’ can be used to refer to countries,
but ‘it’ is more common.

Australia sent her armies to help fight in the war.