In an effort to make writing gender-neutral, or gender-inclusive, we sometimes write sentences that could be simpler. For example, "The lawyer told each member of the jury that he or she should weigh the evidence carefully."
Since the jury includes male and female members, he or she is the most correct use of the pronoun antecedent. But it is also a clunky and wordy way to write the sentence. To streamline it, rewrite so that it reads: The lawyer told the members of the jury to weigh the evidence carefully.
In a comment to this post, rewrite the following sentence to streamline it and get rid of "him or her."
Everyone needs to pick up his or her trash before lunch is over.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
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