Re: A grammar-gender question

[nancy ott <ott -at- ANSOFT -dot- COM>]

> I want to say, "To view a user's group and rights, highlight their name;
> their individual information will appear in the Group and Rights portions
> of the window."  But using "their" with "a user" is bad grammar.

> It's more grammatically correct to say, "To view a user's group and
> rights, highlight his or her name; his or her individual information will
> appear in the Group and Rights portions of the window.  But "his or her"
> turns the sentence into a gender issue and it always sound awkward.

> Old problem.  No solution.  Suggestions?

You could alternate "he" and "she" examples throughout your manual, if
this situation crops up frequently.  That's what the authors of "What
to Expect the First Year," and "What to Expect the Toddler Years" did
with their descriptions of child behavior.  I thought it worked pretty
well.

By the way, I'd encourage all of you to read these books and "What to
Expect When You're Expecting," even if there are no pregnant women,
babies, or toddlers in your household.  They're excellent examples of
technical writing: well-organized, informative, reasonably well
indexed, freindly, and easy to use.

- nancy

--
nancy ott -dot-  -dot-  -dot-  -dot-  -dot-  -dot-  -dot-  -dot- ott -at- ansoft -dot- com -dot-  -dot-  -dot-  -dot-  -dot-  -dot-  -dot-  -dot-  -dot- http://www.ansoft.com/~ott/
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