# Is it a woman?



## Pepa´s

Good morning/evening/night everybody!

Please, I need you to tell me which of the following questions is grammatically correct when you are asking about someone (only one person) whose sex you unknow:
¿Es mujer?: Is it a woman?
¿Es un deportista?: Is it a sportsperson?
¿Sabes su nombre?: Do you know its name?......Do you know their name?
¿Vive aquí?: Does it live here?......Do they live here?

If none is correct, please let me the proper way.

Thank you


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## Wandering JJ

Pepa´s said:


> Good morning/evening/night everybody!
> 
> Please, I need you to tell me which of the following questions is grammatically correct when you are asking about someone (only one person) whose sex you unknow:
> ¿Es mujer?: Is it a woman?
> ¿Es un deportista?: Is it a sportsperson?
> ¿Sabes su nombre?: Do you know its name?......Do you know their name?
> ¿Vive aquí?: Does it live here?......Do they live here?
> 
> If none is correct, please let me the proper way.
> 
> Thank you


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## Pepa´s

Thank you JJ!


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## Chasint

Don't forget the famous movie line,  "Up in the sky, look: It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman!"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034247/quotes

Sometimes this is quoted as, "Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Superman!"



Note
Although we have the adjective 'unknown', there is no verb in English "to unknow". You have to say "...whose sex you don't know..."


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## Pepa´s

Thank you for your help Biffo


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## Pepa´s

Hello again!
I still have a BIG doubt:
When should I use "it" or "they" "its" or "their"? Does it depend on whether the main verb is "to be", or on the use of the auxiliar "do"?
Why is it so difficult?


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## Chasint

Pepa´s said:


> Hello again!
> I still have a BIG doubt:
> When should I use "it" or "they" "its" or "their"? Does it depend on whether the main verb is "to be", or on the use of the auxiliar "do"?
> Why is it so difficult?


I don't understand the question. Can you give a complete sentence to illustrate what you mean?


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## Pepa´s

What I´m asking is why sometimes "it" is used and others you take"they" instead.

"where do they live?" or When did they get their degree?
 but "is it a sportsperson? or Is it a woman?
Biffo, thank you for your interest!!


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## Forero

Pepa´s said:


> What I´m asking is why sometimes "it" is used and others you take"they" instead.
> 
> "where do they live?" or When did they get their degree?
> but "is it a sportsperson? or Is it a woman?
> Biffo, thank you for your interest!!


Pueden decirse "Are they a sportsperson?" y "Are they a woman?". _They_ es un poco problemático por ser plural, pero _it_ se usa sólo como sujeto de _be_ y aveces _become_, y sólo para referirse a una cuestión, a la respuesta para una pregunta, o a una selección— no a una persona tal cual:

_Who am I thinking of?_
_Is it a woman_ ((_that_)_ you are thinking of_)_?_ ["It" = en quién piensas.]

_Only one person here has a knife._
_Is it a woman?_ ["It" = quién tiene un cuchillo.]

_Which do we see first, the man or the woman?_
_Usually it is the man, but under some specific circumstances it becomes the woman_ ((_that_)_ we see first_)_._ ["It" = cuál vemos primero.]


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## chamyto

Pepa´s said:


> What I´m asking is why sometimes "it" is used and others you take"they" instead.
> 
> "where do they live?" or When did they get their degree?
> but "is it a sportsperson? or Is it a woman?
> Biffo, thank you for your interest!!



Porque _it_ se refiere a una persona o cosa , y _they _a varias. Lo mismo pasa con _its_ o _their_.


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## Forero

Lo correcto dependerá del contexto.

Por ejemplo, "Do you know its name?" y "Does it live here?" pueden decirse si "it" es un animal no humano, o un bebé, cuyo sexo no se sabe.


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## echinocereus

Hi, Pepa’s,

I know no English speakers who would use “its” as a possessive referring to a human being.

Personally, I belong to that group of English speakers who do not use “they” or “their” as neuter forms in 3rd person.  I use “he” or “he or she” and “his” or “his or her.”  

Sometimes I say “that” or “that person” or “that individual” when the gender of the individual I’m referring to is unknown.

For some of your examples I would say:  “Do you know the name of that person?”  “Does that person live here?”  “When did that individual get his degree?”

“Expletive it,” followed by a form of “to be,” is regularly used at the beginning of sentences in which the true subject is postponed until after the verb.  Examples:

“It is a good person who is kind to others.” 
“It is a courageous politician who speaks truth to power.” 
“It was she who told us.” 

Pepa’s, an English translation for your examples with “¿Es mujer?” and “¿Es deportista?” would depend on context.  If I were looking at a photograph of a group of people, men and women, and neither the face nor the clothing of one particular individual indicated the sex of that person, I might say “Is that a woman or a man?” or “Is that person a woman or a man?” or “¿Is that individual a woman or a man?”  Except for uses similar to those in my examples above referring to “expletive it,” I would not use “it” to refer to a human being.  

Un saludo.


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## inib

Let's imagine we're playing a guessing game ("20 questions", "Animal, vegetable or mineral" or something like that) and before we start we don't know if the correct answer is going to be an object, a person, a place, an event etc.
At that initial point, I would use "*it*" to refer to the "mystery word".
Me: 1a. _Is* it* a person?_ Player B: _Yes_
Me: 2a. _Is *it* a man?_ (I'd still use "it" ) Player B:_ Yes_
Now that I have established that we are talking about a male human, I'd probably continue...
Me: 3a. _Is *he* a sportsman_?

So far, I think that's quite easy, but what if we play the same game and it doesn't occur to me to ask question 2a?

Me: 1b._ Is *it *a person?_ Player B: _Yes_
Me: 2b. I_s *it* a sportsperson?_ Player B: _Yes_
Me: 3b. _Was (¿his/her, its, their?) father also a sportsman?_

I definitely would *not* use "its" in 3b. My personal preference would be to use the cumbersome "his or her" or use "his" by default until I receive further information. Nevertheless, I understand the arguments in favour of "their".


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## echinocereus

Of course, Inib, I agree with the use of "it" to refer to the "mystery word" in that game.


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## inib

echinocereus said:


> Of course, Inib, I agree with the use of "it" to refer to the "mystery word" in that game.


I edited my post and added a second part to it. Did you see that? I can't even explain to myself why in 3b I suddenly reject "its" when the gender (as well as the "mystery word") is still unknown.


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## echinocereus

Yes, Inib, I saw that and I think the answer is that we dislike so intensely the use of "its" to refer to a human antecedent.  Perhaps some AE or BE speaker can think of an exception, but such an exception escapes me.


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## inib

echinocereus said:


> Yes, Inib, I saw that and I think the answer is that we dislike so intensely the use of "its" to refer to a human antecedent.  Perhaps some AE or BE speaker can think of an exception, but such an exception escapes me.


OK. Many thanks, but does that mean that in 2a you'd prefer "Is *he* a man?"


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## Peterdg

inib said:


> I edited my post and added a second part to it. Did you see that? I can't even explain to myself why in 3b I suddenly reject "its" when the gender (as well as the "mystery word") is still unknown.


 I think the reason is that in the other sentences, the "it" construction is an impersonal construction, where "it" refers to nothing (or everything, if you want). In 3b you use "its" as a possesive pronoun that refers to something (specific).


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## echinocereus

Well, Inib, actually I would prefer in 2a "Is that person a man?"  I cannot guarantee that in a fast and lively game of "20 Questions" with friends I would not continue with "it" and say _(Forgive me, former grammar teachers of mine)_ "Is it a man?" - still thinking of "it" as the "mystery word."  

Peter, I would avoid using the possessive adjective "its" to refer to any specific or non-specific human antecedent because it is repugnant to me.  It seems to me "dehumanizing."  

Más saludos.


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## Peterdg

echinocereus said:


> W
> Peter, I would avoid using the possessive adjective "its" to refer to any specific or non-specific human antecedent because it is repugnant to me.  It seems to me "dehumanizing."


Yes, of course. I was explaining (well, trying to explain) why "its" doesn't work there, as inib already pointed out.


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## Forero

inib said:


> I edited my post and added a second part to it. Did you see that? I can't even explain to myself why in 3b I suddenly reject "its" when the gender (as well as the "mystery word") is still unknown.


When we refer to a mystery idea as _it_, the referent is not the person but what the mystery idea is, even if we know that part of the mystery idea is personhood, and even if the mystery idea is expressed as "who I am thinking of". But _it_ only works this way as the subject of _be_ or _become_, not as a possessive.

No matter what the question is, the "mystery idea" is always impersonal third person singular:

_How do we receive?_ [Example with an adverbial answer]
_How we receive is in giving._ or _The way we receive is in giving._
_It is in giving that we receive._

_What does Sally keep in the box._ [Example with a plural answer]
_It is her jewels that Sally keeps in the box._ [Not "They are..."]

_What are most crucial?_ [Example with an answer explicitly indicated to be plural]
_It is clear explanations that are most crucial._ [Not "They are..."]

_Who have their hats on backwards?_ [Example with an answer explicitly indicated to refer to persons]
_It is the firefighters and baseball players that have their hats on backwards._ [Not "They are"]

Spanish does not need this _it_ because the verb agrees with the complement and the subject is "understood", almost as if the complement has become the subject. For example, the Spanish version of "It is her jewels that Sally keeps in the box" looks like a simple rearrangement of "Her jewels are what Sally keeps in the box":

_Son sus alhajas lo que Sally guarda en la caja._


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## echinocereus

Very sorry, Peter, if my comment seemed like an "attack."  It was not so intended.  I was only trying to amplify my previous remarks about the use of "its."


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## BrooklynBoy

Pepa´s said:


> What I´m asking is why sometimes "it" is used and others you take"they" instead.
> 
> "where do they live?" or When did they get their degree?
> but "is it a sportsperson? or Is it a woman?



Pepa's, son dos usos distintos:

"Is it...?" es una frase hecha que equivale a "Estamos hablando de...?" o "Nos referimos a...?"

"they/their", en este contexto, son pronombres singulares de género neútro. No sabemos si "he/his" o "she/her" cabe, entonces decimos "they/their". Nunca decimos "it/its" en este contexto cuando se refiere a una persona.

Ojalá esto te ayude.


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## mal67

Forero's explanation is spot on, though I would say that the _it_ is in fact present in Spanish as _*lo* _:



Forero said:


> Spanish does not need this _it_ because the verb agrees with the complement and the subject is "understood", almost as if the complement has become the subject. For example, the Spanish version of "*It* is her jewels that Sally keeps in the box" looks like a simple rearrangement of "Her jewels are what Sally keeps in the box":
> 
> _Son sus alajas *lo *que Sally guarda en la caja._


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## Hakuna Matata

Excellent thread about a difficult topic (at least for me).

Minor correction: alaja   alhaja


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## Pepa´s

Hello everybody!
I´ve read your answers once and again. And I´ve come to a conclusión which (I´m sorry) relieves me somehow:
This can become a controversial topic even for English speakers.
Now, with all your contributions, I think I see much clearer that this matter can be treated from many points of view, and always depending on the situation and how comfortable you feel when using one of the formulas.
Thank you very much!!


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## Forero

Creo que concordaríamos más si nos dieras más contexto. ¿Qué situación inició estas preguntas?


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