Him and her are subjective cases of pronouns he and she and are often used in the English language, both in spoken and written forms. Him and Her is also a popular TV series aired on BBC about a romantically lazy couple in their twenties. However, this article is focused on the confusion in the minds of English language students regarding the use of subjective cases him and her of the pronouns he and she when the gender of the pronoun is unclear. Let’s take a closer look.
A pronoun that does not specify the gender of the subject is called a gender-neutral pronoun. When you are unsure about the gender of the pronoun, which pronoun do you use, him, or her? What do you tell your peon when you do not want to be disturbed by someone who calls upon you? Do you say, if anybody comes, tell him to come later or you say if anyone comes, tell her to come later? The use of him and her are based upon conventions in many cases, as when a gynecologist is always referred to as she and thus the pronoun used is her.
When we say his divorce proved costly, we are surely talking from the perspective of the man. The situation is altogether different as the same divorce becomes her divorce if we are talking about the woman involved.
Key Takeaways
- Him and her are subjective cases of the pronouns he and she respectively.
- The use of him and her in situations when the gender of the pronoun is unclear is based upon conventions and personal preference of the speaker.
- Gender-neutral pronouns do not specify the gender of the subject.
