I read your final sentence in Spanish, Heidita (and was somewhat surprised to find that that I understand it) "No se me ocurre nada que suene bien."

And it occurred to me that the original sentences do not sound particularly good in English, either. Maybe I would have preferred "One who has traveled off the beaten path," for example. With "one who" the sentence sounds better to me.

But as for the second sentence -- I am stumped. Again I would write "One who has gone...etc. But then I draw a blank. I would not want to write "his or her" own unique way" but surely "their own unique way" cannot be right. Or? "One" is singular and "their" is plural. But this is a question that belongs in an English forum, and so I will not expect any answers.

Instead I will be pleased to see how the nice thoughts get translated into Spanish. (As all of us do, I enjoy going off the beaten path and I wish could go my own way more often than I can

This was a harder challenge than it looked. Depending on the feeling your friend wants to get across, how about something like a couple of these:

A. "one that has traveled off the beaten path" - Uno que ha viajado afuera de las sendas/los senderos - One who has traveled outside of the footpaths. Or, Uno que ha salido de los rastros; or, Uno que ha salido de las pistas. One who has left the trails/tracks. In these loose translations, beaten or cut or cleared is implied.

B. "One that has gone their own (unique) way" - Uno que ha ido su unica senda/unico sendero - One who has gone their unique path. Or, Uno que ha cortado su propia senda/propio sendero - One who has cut their own footpath/path. Or, Uno que ha honrado su unica manera de ser. One who has honored their unique way of being. Su propia implies unica and vice versa. So, para mi, using both usually sounds redundant in both Spanish and English, (unless one is taking poetic license in certain contexts).

PS Quizas tengo una oreja para la musica, pero mi espanol es todavia muy poco. Asi, perdone algunos errores, por favor.

so far this is fascinating muchas gracias, let Ian know!

Interesting to watch this post. Reminds me of a song by Fleetwood Mac "You Can Go Your Own Way" (Usted puede ir su propia manera). Of course this is just me having fun -- I am sure my Spanish is wrong.

WE use "their" when we don't know if it is female male or plural.
Ian

Janice said:

I read your final sentence in Spanish, Heidita (and was somewhat surprised to find that that I understand it) "No se me ocurre nada que suene bien."And it occurred to me that the original sentences do not sound particularly good in English, either. Maybe I would have preferred "One who has traveled off the beaten path," for example. With "one who" the sentence sounds better to me.But as for the second sentence -- I am stumped. Again I would write "One who has gone...etc. But then I draw a blank. I would not want to write "his or her" own unique way" but surely "their own unique way" cannot be right. Or? "One" is singular and "their" is plural. But this is a question that belongs in an English forum, and so I will not expect any answers.Instead I will be pleased to see how the nice thoughts get translated into Spanish. (As all of us do, I enjoy going off the beaten path and I wish could go my own way more often than I can

>

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." Thoreau

To pursue the figure just a little further:One is sure to encounter thorns and briars on the unbeaten path . . . perhaps even poisonous snakes!

... ... ...
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I---|
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

---|Robert Frost (1874'1963)
http://www.amandashome.com/road.html

alguien que ha viajado por un diferente camino

alguien que hizo su propio camino
o
alguien que agarro un rumbo independiente e unico

Yes, I usually do too. But is there an alternative? I always find it awkward. Again, I realize that this is a question about English, so please feel free to ignore me. I just got curious when I read the original post. Thank you for your answer, in the meantime.

Ian Francis Hill said:

WE use "their" when we don't know if it is female male or plural. Ian

Janice said:

I read your final sentence in Spanish, Heidita (and was somewhat surprised to find that that I understand it) "No se me ocurre nada que suene bien."And it occurred to me that the original sentences do not sound particularly good in English, either. Maybe I would have preferred "One who has traveled off the beaten path," for example. With "one who" the sentence sounds better to me.But as for the second sentence -- I am stumped. Again I would write "One who has gone...etc. But then I draw a blank. I would not want to write "his or her" own unique way" but surely "their own unique way" cannot be right. Or? "One" is singular and "their" is plural. But this is a question that belongs in an English forum, and so I will not expect any answers.Instead I will be pleased to see how the nice thoughts get translated into Spanish. (As all of us do, I enjoy going off the beaten path and I wish could go my own way more often than I can

>

Janice said:

Yes, I usually do too. But is there an alternative? I always find it awkward. Again, I realize that this is a question about English, so please feel free to ignore me. I just got curious when I read the original post. Thank you for your answer, in the meantime.

Ian Francis Hill said:

WE use "their" when we don't know if it is female male or plural. Ian

Your choices are: couch all such expressions in the plural or use the singular and offend traditionalists (grammarians) or offend the "gender-conscious". In the present day there appear to be many more people who are "gender-attuned" than who are grammatically-sensitive. "You make your choice and you take your chances." / "One makes his (one's) choice and takes his (one's) chances." / "People make their choices and take their chances."

WE say "To each his own."

Mixing singular and plural pronouns may be the coming thing, lol. Here is what Grammar Girl says:
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/he-they-generic-personal-prono...

Ian Francis Hill said:

samdie said:

....

:

WE use "their" when we don't know if it is female male or plural. Ian

....

WE say "To each his own."

Ian Francis Hill, then, belongs in the "bold" camp

I am so glad I clicked the "follow this" link! I might otherwise have missed this interesting response. Maybe, by the way, there will come a day when I, too, can be in the camp of those who avoid the problem by "re-writing" because I can just write everything in Spanish!!

MJ said:

Mixing singular and plural pronouns may be the coming thing, lol. Here is what Grammar Girl says:http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/he-they-generic-personal-prono...Ian Francis Hill said:

samdie said:

....

:

WE use "their" when we don't know if it is female male or plural.Ian

....WE say "To each his own."

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