Talk:Fairies
<<<<<For example, a fairy with damaged wings will be stuck at its current size
you used "its" here and on several other instances... Is "their" inccorect ?
Thank you for the corrections ^_^
And no, a fairy won't be able to change the target's size at all if it's too big.
Choosing between "their" and "its" is another "English grammar is odd" sort of thing. :D The full sentence is "For example, a fairy with damaged wings will be stuck at its current size, and won't be able to size-shift until its wings have healed." Since we are talking about a single fairy we have a choice of which pronoun to use. We could use "their" (which is a third-person-singular/plural-neuter pronoun) , but there is a third-person-possessive-singular-neuter pronoun (which is what we are looking for), which is "its".
It's hard to explain, so let me provide examples.
Variations of this sentence:
(Speaking about multiple fairies, "they" is the one and only correct choice here.)
"For example, fairies with damaged wings will be stuck at their current size, and won't be able to size-shift until their wings have healed."
(Speaking of a male fairy, "he" is the only correct choice here.)
"For example, a fairy with damaged wings will be stuck at his current size, and won't be able to size-shift until his wings have healed."
(Speaking of a female fairy, "she" is the only correct choice here.)
"For example, a fairy with damaged wings will be stuck at her current size, and won't be able to size-shift until her wings have healed."
(Speaking of a fairy who's gender is unknown, "their" is one of the correct choices, but it sounds like you are speaking about multiple fairies, but saying "a fairy" means you are speaking about only one fairy... hence the confusion.)
"For example, a fairy with damaged wings will be stuck at their current size, and won't be able to size-shift until their wings have healed."
(Speaking of a fairy who's gender is unknown, "it's" is one of the correct choices (in this particular case), but it sounds a little impersonal.)
"For example, a fairy with damaged wings will be stuck at its current size, and won't be able to size-shift until its wings have healed."
(In this case you can mix and match "its" and "their", although you sound like you are speaking about multiple fairies and then speaking only about one, or the reverse.)
"For example, a fairy with damaged wings will be stuck at its current size, and won't be able to size-shift until their wings have healed."
"For example, a fairy with damaged wings will be stuck at their current size, and won't be able to size-shift until its wings have healed."
For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_English_personal_pronouns and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they , but be warned that these articles are headache inducing. :)
The more I look at the sentence, the more I think that the best solution to the problem is a simple rewrite into plural form, something like this:
"For example, fairies with damaged wings are unable to size-shift, and are stuck at their current size until their wings have healed."
--Oldman40k2003 16:20, 6 December 2007 (PST)
Thank for the explanations ^_^ And I agree with you, I think this is a nice way to avoid the headache XD
