English grammar question

[CarpeDeo]

Is it grammatically proper to refer to a baby as "it"? Or do the pronouns "he" and "she" always have to be used?

For example: Can I say,

"My baby is four years old. It's going to turn five next month."

or . . .

"That baby is so cute! Is it a boy or a girl?"

 

[amol]

No, baby is a person.

 

[Philippine Mango]

no baby as in turd which equals IT

 

[amol]

Originally posted by: Philippine Mango
no Philippine Mango as in turd which equals IT

FIXED

 

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: Amol

Originally posted by: Philippine Mango
no Philippine Mango as in turd which equals IT

FIXED

WinnAr :thumbsup:

 

[chrisms]

The second one works because you don't know... but I don't see any reason not to use "he" or "she" if you do know.

 

[CarpeDeo]

Originally posted by: chrisms
The second one works because you don't know... but I don't see any reason not to use "he" or "she" if you do know.

So it's just dependent on whether you know or not?

What if it's apparent that it's a girl, but you say something like, "That baby is so cute! It has a little bowtie in her hair!"

 

[chrisms]

Originally posted by: CarpeDeo

Originally posted by: chrisms
The second one works because you don't know... but I don't see any reason not to use "he" or "she" if you do know.

So it's just dependent on whether you know or not?

What if it's apparent that it's a girl, but you say something like, "That baby is so cute! It has a little bowtie in her hair!"

That sounds wrong to me because you're using two different words.. it sounds like object #1 ("it") has a little bowtie in the hair of object #2 ("her")

 

[Philippine Mango]

bump

 

[Philippine Mango]

Originally posted by: gsaldivar

Originally posted by: Amol

Originally posted by: Philippine Mango
no Amol as in turd which equals IT

FIXED

WinnAr :thumbsup:

:thumbsup: