RE: His/Her v. Their

[Fred Ridder <docudoc -at- hotmail -dot- com>]

Becca wrote:
 

> In this situation, we have a number of diferent actors. Each step may refer to a different actor. The author of the document wrote things like 
> 
> "The SME should print his/her name and sign it on the Signature line"
>  
> The next step then says what the next actor should be doing with the form.

 
"The form must have the SME's name printed on it and the SME must sign it on the Signature line."
 
My reasoning here is that the SME is presumably not the only person capable of printing the SME's name on the form. Only the signature part of the procedure needs to be performed specifically by the SME. Passive voice is perfectly appropriate and very useful when a specific actor is not required in a procedure.
 
-Fred Ridder 		 	   		  
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