What is the rule? I don't think there is a rule. You just have to memorize the few nouns in English that are customarily given a gender. Note that you won't be considered wrong if you use "it" to reference such a noun. For

Hi, I'd like to ask about the two words 'deputy' and 'vice'. People say 'vice-president' but 'Deputy Secretary of State'. What about 'chairman'? Should we say 'vice-chairman' or 'deputy

Hi, A human being is a hazard for himself/herself/(other)? Which pronoun would you apply to this type of sentence? The traditional usage is 'for himself'. If you want to be gender-neutral, say 'for himself or

Hello Anon, You have an interesting view of language. what is correct based on decisions made by grammar experts We don't have an Academy of English. People do not tell us "what is correct." We have various standards of

Hi evanescence, and welcome to the site. Ask your friend what "he" means in this sentence: He who laughs last, laughs best. In view of the fact that "one" was used in the beginning of the sentence, I suppose the use of

Perhaps you could explain what the word 'tappesterres' means and from which language it is taken. English. Either of the Spenserian or Chaucerian variety. Thanks. In this instance I derived it from Tappestresse, but the difference is

English. Either of the Spenserian or Chaucerian variety. I'm tending to think Spenserian but will need to spend some time with my nose in a book to verify. Ad as I know I've seen it I'm not about to that right now this minute. In this

Well, technically it should be "he/she" rather than "they". But "he/she" is a bit cumbersome. So in these sorts of ... although technically incorrect, is also often used (which makes it correct by definition, since

Thanx Einde and Paul for earlier help. I read somewhere as follows: * If a 400 kg person sits on ... I tried to understand but couldn't figure out. They is plural and it is referring to person which is singular. Well, technically it should be

Hi :) There's something I really don't know: what's the usual, common, informal way to refer to someone whose gender unknown? I know that when the person is not identified we use they ( someone, anyone, nobody, etc. - Example: Someone