2

An application has the customer registry and when i click on it, there is a button "Turn inactive", when i click it the following message is displayed:

"This customer has outstanding transactions. It can't be made inactive."

Is the use of "it" correct because the customer is being referred as an entity? Wasn't suppose to be "he"?

Gabriel Abel
  • 21
  • 4
  • If we added "he", "she", or "they" in place of "it", I would wonder "How do you make a person (he/she) inactive?" I think "it" is appropriate because it refers to the object in the application, and not to the person that object represents. – ColleenV Feb 17 '17 at 13:56
  • 2
    "Their account cannot be made inactive". You could use "His ..." or "Her ..." if you know them to be male or female, respectively. – AdrianHHH Feb 17 '17 at 13:58
  • 1
    It may be more clear if you see it thusly: This customer('s account) has outstanding transactions. It can't be made inactive. – Davo Feb 17 '17 at 14:45
  • 1
    It's not clear to me. What can't be made inactive? The customer? The transactions? Something else? I would rephrase it like AdrianHHH says: The customer's account can't be made inactive. – stangdon Feb 17 '17 at 15:09
  • @stangdon I added some context to the message appearence in the question. – Gabriel Abel Feb 17 '17 at 15:29
  • 1
    Thanks, @GabrielAbel. I would not refer to a customer as "it", because a customer is usually a person, or at least treated like one, and we don't refer to people as "it". At the same time, "he" implies a certain gender, which isn't really appropriate if the customer is female or an entire company. Again, I would avoid the entire issue by saying "the account" or something similar. – stangdon Feb 17 '17 at 15:44
  • 1
    Possible duplicate of Can 'it' be used to refer to a person? – FumbleFingers Feb 17 '17 at 18:34
  • I think that this is not a dupe because the customer is not being referred to as "it". – Catija Feb 18 '17 at 00:35

2 Answers2

1

I don't think so. I don't believe the it here refers to the customer, but rather to their account. More context is needed to be certain, but I don't believe one can make a person "inactive" in the way implied here.

joseph.glover
  • 314
  • 1
  • 3
  • Added more information about where the message is displayed. The customer is just a registration indeed. My question is if it's correct to refer to him as or if it's better to refer to the person the registration represents. – Gabriel Abel Feb 17 '17 at 15:33
  • The question is a bit abstract at this point. If you are talking about a real, live person, you absolutely use "he", "she", or "they" as it may apply. But the application is a digital representation. In OOP there is probably a "Customer" class/object which is being flagged as inactive, and that can be referred to as "it". And you're not making the actual customer inactive, you're flagging their account as inactive. @GabrielAbel – mstorkson Feb 17 '17 at 16:11
0

I wouldn't use "it" for a customer, I'd say you should provide what you want to say. You can always use he/she

Elias Orozco
  • 149
  • 2
  • 7