Es correcto referirse a animales como "it"?
Hola! Cuando vivía en México, mi maestra de inglés nos enseño que en inglés, uno se refiere a animales como "it". Por ejemplo: "The dog ate its food". Even if it was a male/female dog, you would refer the animal as an "it". If you are talking about a cat that it is sleeping, it would say "it is sleeping", Not "he/she is sleeping". The teacher said that "it" is used for animals/things. I always thought that she was wrong. I would like to know what you guys think. I've been here in the U.S. for almost 13 years and all of the people that I know refer to animals as she/he...
5 Answers
I think it depends on the speakers view of animals and the closeness of the animals. Wild animals are always it. People's pets are generally he/she.
There is a good discussion at this link: link text
En inglés ocurre lo mismo que en español con la preposición "a" con los complementos directos: depende del grado de personificación que se le dé al animal, y siempre puede llegar a extenderse a objetos usando la misma idea:
He visto un león. (sin "a")
He visto a un gato. (con "a")
En ambos idiomas se puede llegar a personificar hasta una estatua:
He is so perfect! (looking at a Greek sculpture)
Pues, depende de si se quiere el animal o no. Por mi parte, siempre uso ella cuando refiero a mi cachorro. ¿Cómo no? Es mi dulce amiga y no tiene nada de mala, solo sonrisas y meneos de la colita.
If you know the gender of the animal, I don´t see a problem using the specific pronoun. For example I don´t refer to my cat as it. Since I know he is a male. I refer to him as he, his etc. However, if you don´t the gender it is okay to refer to it as it. If you want to be more personal, traditionally the pronoun he has been used to refer to someone of something of unknown gender although you can use she as well. He/she together sounds awarkards and most will tell you to avoid it.
This is correct, but if it´s also correct to use He/She if the animal is a pet.
