alex
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Use "It" in example should be removed
Subject of the feature
"It" should not be used in an example
Problem
In the below example, "it" is offered as a replacement for "he." "They" is sufficient. The problem with using "it" is that this equivocates "it" and "they." "It" is used for non-person entities and so by using the term here, this implies that people who use "they" aren't people. If you want to use a second example, use another pronoun like "xe"
[
[1:18-1:20: `He` may be insensitive, use `They`, `It` instead] {
message: '`He` may be insensitive, use `They`, `It` instead',
name: '1:18-1:20',
reason: '`He` may be insensitive, use `They`, `It` instead',
line: 1,
column: 18,
location: { start: [Object], end: [Object] },
source: 'retext-equality',
ruleId: 'he-she',
fatal: false,
actual: 'He',
expected: [ 'They', 'It' ]
}
]
Expected behaviour
Either only list "they" or use a different pronoun in place of "it"
Hi there, thanks for the issue!
The list of suggestions is not meant to be a list of equivalents although I understand that it is easily seen that way and that that hurts. Instead it’s meant as a list of alternatives depending on context.
When you say "It" is used for non-person entities
, would you also say that "He"
is sometimes used for non-person entities as well? I was under the impression that was the case, and therefore that an alternative for he
, depending on context, should also include the grammatical neuter gender?
Ah I see. That's a fair point. We do use person pronouns in place non-person entities and in that case "it" would be better. That's also not something that is easily determined programmatically so I can see why both would be suggested.
In that case, could a note be added to the docs that states it's not meant to be an equivalent but that people will need to determine which word is appropriate?
Good to hear Merlin! If you’re interested, I recently wrote more about why alex exists, what its problems are, and where I see it going: https://wooorm.com/blog/alex/
In that case, could a note be added to the docs that states it's not meant to be an equivalent but that people will need to determine which word is appropriate?
Yes! I want to make it much clearer that there are significant shortcomings! While I do understand that I am responsible for the current state, it is open source, so it will unfortunately take some time. The best source for a fix though, might be you! So if you have ideas on what wording to use and where they should be placed, I would love to hear your thoughts. And if you’re interested in working on a PR, that would be much appreciated!