: Re: How to avoid specifying the gender in English when the original text does not specify it? I'm translating a short story from Korean into English. One problem I frequently face is the 'antecedent

@Hamm6328258

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Well, if you think you can resolve this annoying problem, more power to you. This has been one of the most debated bugaboos for writers in English since time immemorial.

Classically, the antiquated answer was to use male pronouns generically. This was never wholly satisfactory, and as the world has become more sensitive to diversity, it has become almost painfully inappropriate. "One" was introduced some time ago as the alternative. "He or she" also has some popularity, but it's awkward. All sorts of invented/constructed options have been tried, such as he/she, she/he, s/he, se, and others. None of them has survived in any significant way.

Another recent answer has been to use "he" and "she" at almost random times in any given text. When done thoughtfully, this can be somewhat effective. If you try it, you probably want to be sensitive to the context; if the text carries any distinct flavor of one or the other, go with that one. Be careful you aren't linking something in a biased way; the context should be unequivocally connected to one or the other, if you are going to use that as a deciding factor. If there is nothing that distinctively links to one or the other, then flip a coin.

Ultimately, there is no simple answer, no right answer, no universally accepted way of dealing with this problem. I find myself doing almost anything I can to reconstruct what I'm writing to avoid having to deal with it at all, whenever possible.

Lastly, the use of "their" and "them" in place of "he or she" and "him or her" has become quite common, and is gaining greater acceptance, so you might just want to accept this usage and be done with it. Even many authorities will no longer consider this to be wrong.

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