Concordância de Gênero com Criança em inglês

Gostaria de saber como fazer a concordância com palavras como "criança" que em português não há especificidade do gênero. Para dizer em inglês, por exemplo, "a criança e sua educação" como ficaria o "sua"? Fico insegura para usar o "its", por ser considerado ofensivo às vezes (como se a pessoa fosse um objeto ou animal), e não sei se posso usar "their" pelo sujeito não ser plural.

Obrigada!

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5 respostas
Ordenar por: Data
OEstudantedeIngles 2 16 113
Hey!

Você pode dizer tanto "A child and their education" quanto " A child and its education" =)
PPAULO 6 49 1.3k
I prefer "A child and its/his education" and "children and their education."

Social factors that influence a child and his education should be researched.

Among the decisive events here referred to is the changing of teeth and the effect which this changing has upon a child and his education.

For the major part of orientations and movements of reform pedagogy, Rousseau's concept of a child and his education (Rousseau, 1979)...
Olá! Muito obrigada pelas respostas!

Agora consegui achar esse link falando sobre as concordâncias, inclusive sobre o uso de "they" como singular, que vem sendo mais aceito para não haver marcação do gênero. Entretanto, há controvérsias. Para quem tiver interesse, é aqui: http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/agree6.html
Está bem explicado, inclusive com opiniões a favor e contra o uso de "singular they".

Prévia:

Traditionally, writers have used he or his as the universal singular pronoun. However, the usage is considered out-of-date by many who prefer less sexist wording. Increasingly, editors of publications are suggesting that writers reword a sentence with plurals or "singular they" when making a reference to males and females.

Reasons for rewording with plurals or with "singular they or their" include: (1) writer doesn't know the gender; (2) writer doesn't want to mention gender; (3) writer doesn't want to exclude the other gender with his, (4) writer doesn't want to specify gender because the individual(s) does not identify as male or female.


Obs. Na minha pergunta eu disse que "child" em português não tem gênero, na verdade eu quis dizer que em inglês não tem gênero (em português tem, que seria "a" criança).
PPAULO 6 49 1.3k
Grammarians never agree completely! The same holds to the politically correct and the pragmatic.
The good side is that we learn from the discussion.
The other day, I answered a question on Message Board to learners of English, it was left there for days, months...it was an intermediate-level question on a grammar topic. It turned out that some participants pointed out "I would never say such" or "I don´t usually see that on the streets" etc.
The good thing is, I really learned how is the usage in everyday terms, but there was no dispute if the answer was right or wrong, per se.
English is like this, there are always shades of grey in between. ;)
On the other hand, on the same Message Board, someone used the word "guy" when I answered with the same word I was reminded that it was slangy, even disrespectful to use said word!
PPAULO 6 49 1.3k
Back to the crux, about such common-gender words, the Oxford Guide for Style goes on =>>
In English the convention was to use he, him, his for both sexes:
A child learns better from books he likes.
Tell every member to pay his subscription.


It says that while it´s grammatically correct, many consider it outmoded; and then writers as a device may avoid that by using some strategies. One of them is to turn it into plural, the other is to rephrase the sentence or avoid pronouns altogheter:

Children learn better from books they like.
Tell the members to pay their subscription.
A child learns better from congenial books.
Tell every member to pay subscriptions.


Another strategy that they have developed is to use the masculine and feminine forms:
A child learns better to read from the books he or she likes.
Tell every member to pay his or her subscription.


When I read a book, a text or article I won´t be thinking of that, I will know the message just the same. Anyway, I had to point out such grammar points to you. To me it´s a matter of style.
I hope it helps.
https://books.google.com.br/books?id=gD ... VE&f=false