Page 112 - Basic English Usage

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he or she
We can use he or she; him or her; his or her to refer to people like a
or
student a politician (who can be men or women).
If a student is ill, he or she must send his or her medical certificate
to the College Office.
This is heavy, and most people use he/him/his instead of he or she etc.
A politician has to do what his party tells him.
After anybody, somebody, nobody and some other expressions (see
307), we often use they/them/their (with a singular meaning) instead of
he or she etc.
If anybody phones, tell them I'm out.

actor and actress etc
Some jobs and positions have different words for men and women.
Man Woman Man Woman Man Woman
actor actress host hostess steward stewardess
duke duchess monk nun waiter —_ waitress
bridegroom bride prince princess widower widow
Some words ending in -man have a feminine form (for example
policeman/policewoman).
Others do not: for example, the chairman of a committee can be a man
or a woman. Many people prefer to use words ending in -person for
these cases (for example chairperson, spokesperson).

142 get + noun, adjective, adverb particle or preposition ©

Getis a very common word in spoken English. It is usually informal, and
structures with get are not so common in writing.
Get has different meanings — it depends what kind of word comes after it.

get + noun/pronoun
Before a noun or pronoun, get usually means ‘receive’, ‘fetch’, ‘obtain’ or
something similar.
| gota letter from Lucy this morning.
Can you come and get me from the station when | arrive?
I'm going out to get some bread.
For the structure / have got, see 153.

get + adjective
Before an adjective, gef usually means ‘become’.
As you get old your memory gets worse. My feet are getting cold.