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Business English Tip of the Week

business-english-tipsEvery week we publish a business English tip concerning different aspects of business English. Topic areas include writing, speaking, listening, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, exams as well as general English. Many tips include audio clips. To receive 'Business English Tip of the Week' by email, just subscribe to the newsletter from the link above. 

Use of Pronouns to Avoid Sexist Writing

Pronouns like he, she, it, we, they, and you stand in for nouns and must therefore match the nouns they are replacing in number (singular or plural) and gender (male or female). If the noun is singular, the pronoun must be too.

incorrect Everyone needs to remove their belongings. (Everyone is singular; their is plural.)
tick1 Everyone needs to remove his or her belongings.
  • Don't use only 'his' to refer to a noun - this is regarded as sexist language!
  • In a short document with a single pronoun reference, we recommend that you use his or her in place of the noun.
  • In a longer document with multiple pronoun references, you could alternate between his and her throughout the document to avoid constant repetition. If that doesn't work for you, simply rewrite the sentence so you don't need to make the choice.

The above sentence could also be rewritten as:

tick1 You need to remove your belongings.
 
Changing the subject to a plural also works:
tick1 Employees need to remove their belongings.
 
 

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How to give a speech in English

A Little vs Little & A Few vs Few

Telephone Answering Tips

General Grammar and Writing Tips

Making Polite Requests

Punctuation – The Dash (-) and Brackets ()

Participating in Business Meetings

Should vs Ought to vs Must vs Have to

Tips for Effective Negotiations

Include One Idea per Sentence

Explaining Procedures – Sequence words and phrases

Open Punctuation /Full Blocked Layout Style

Speaking English on the Telephone

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