2020-10-08 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด H -– Him, her & he, she

Revision H

2020-10-08 

151222-1 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด H -– Him, her & he, she

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Collins COBUILD English Usage

Be Careful!
Don't use 'him' as the indirect object of a sentence

when you are referring to the same person as the subject.

Instead use himself.

He poured himself a drink.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language,

Usage Note:

Historically, the pronouns he, him, and his

have been used as generic or gender-neutral singular pronouns,

as in A novelist should write about what he knows best

and No one seems to take any pride in his work anymore.

Since the early 1900s, however,

this usage has been criticized

for being sexist in its assumption that the male is representative of everyone.

As long ago as 1987, a majority of the Usage Panel indicated that they preferred to avoid the generic use of he.

Certainly the avoidance of this usage has become common at all levels of formality.

Typical strategies for doing so include using the plural

(that is, avoiding the singular entirely),

so they is used instead of he.

This is probably the easiest solution.

(The matter of using they to refer to singular antecedents is addressed in the usage note at the entry for they in this dictionary.)

Writers can also employ compound and coordinate forms

such as he/she or he or she, though these constructions can be cumbersome in sustained use.

Some writers, especially in academic contexts,

use she in alteration with he to balance the genders,

or they use she exclusively,

in what might be seen as a pointed overturning of tradition.

The writer who chooses to use generic he and its inflected forms in the face of the strong trend away fromthat usage may be viewed as deliberately calling attention to traditional gender roles or may simply appear to be insensitive.

In certain sentences, the generic pronoun can simply be

dropped or changed to an article with no change in meaning.

The sentence A writer who draws on personal experience for material should not be surprised if reviewers seize on that fact is complete as it stands and requires no pronoun before the word material.

The sentence Every student handed in his assignment is just as clear when written Every student handed in the assignment. See Usage Notes at each, every, neither, one, she, they.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary

usage:

Traditionally, the pronouns he, his, and him have been used generically

to refer to indefinite singular pronouns like anyone, everyone, and someone

(Everyone who agrees should raise his hand)

and to singular nouns that do not indicatesex: Every writer hopes he will produce a bestseller.

This generic use is often criticized as sexist, although many speakers and writers continue the practice.

Various approaches have been developed to avoid generic he.

One is to use plural forms entirely:

Those who agree should raise their hands. All writers hope they will produce bestsellers.

Another is to use the masculine and feminine singular pronouns together:

he or she, she or he; he/she, she/he.

A common practice in speech is to use forms of they to refer to such antecedents:

If anyone calls, tell them I'm not home. See they.

Forms blending the feminine and masculine pronouns, as s/he, have not been widely adopted. See also they.

Collins COBUILD English Usage

he

He is the subject of a verb.

You use he to refer to a man, boy, or male animal that has already been mentioned, or whose identity is known.

He had a nervous habit of biting his nails.

Bill had flown back from New York and he and his wife took me out to dinner.

When the subject of a sentence is followed by a relative clause,

you do not use he in front of the main verb.

For example,

you do not say 'The man who is going to buy my car, he lives in Norwich'.

You say 'The man who is going to buy my car lives in Norwich'.

The man who came into the room was small and slender.

Professor Marvin, who was always early, was there already.

Collins COBUILD English Usage

He – she – they

1. 'he'

He, him, his, and himself are sometimes

used to refer back to an indefinite pronoun or to a word

such as person, child, or student.

If anybody complained about this, he was told that things would soon get back to normal.

It won't hurt a child to have his meals at a different time.

Many people object to this use because it suggests that the person referred to is male.

2. 'he or she'

You can sometimes use he or she, him or her, his or her, or himself or herself.

A parent may feel that he or she has nothing to give a child.

Anyone can call himself or herself a psychologist, even if untrained and unqualified.

Many people avoid these expressions because they think they sound clumsy and unnatural, especially when more than one of them is used in the same sentence.

In writing, some people use s/he to mean he or she.

3. 'they'

Most people use they, them, and their.

Everyone thinks they know what the problems of living with a teenager are.

Often when we touch someone we are demonstrating our love for them.

Don't hope to change anyone or their attitudes.

This use used to be considered incorrect, but it is now the most common form in both spoken and written English, and is used in formal and informal writing.

It is often possible to avoid all the above uses.

You can sometimes do this by using plurals.

For example,

instead of saying 'Every student has his own room',

you can say 'All the students have their own rooms'.

Instead of saying 'Anyone who goes inside must take off his shoes',

you can say 'People who go inside must take off their shoes'.

Common Errors in English Usage Dictionary

There is a group of personal pronouns to be used as subjects in a sentence,

including “he,” “she,” “I,” and “we.”

Then there is a separate group of object pronouns,

including “him,” “her,” “me,” and “us.”

The problem is that the folks who tend to mix up the two sets

often don’t find the subject/object distinctionclear or helpful,

and say things like “Her and me went to the movies."

A simple test is to substitute “us” for “her and me.”

Would you say “us went to the movies?” Obviously not.

 You’d normally say“we went to the movies,”

so when “we” is broken into the two persons involved

it becomes “she and I went to the movies.”

But you would say “the murder scene scared us,”

so it’s correct to say “the murder scene scared her and me.

” If you aren’t involved, use “they” and “them” as test words

instead of “us” and “we.” “

They won the lottery” becomes “he and she won the lottery,”

and “the check was mailed to them” becomes“the check was mailed to him and her.”