Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tfunk]

I have drawn a picture of a boy on the whiteboard. Do I point to it and say 'he is a boy' or do I say 'it is a boy'? Does it matter?

Do I say it is 'aye' boy or do I say it is 'ah' boy and what is the difference?

[tzechuk]

*What is this*?

*It is a picture of a boy*

So, I think *it is a boy* is slightly more correct than *he is a boy*.

I believe Americans say *aye* and everyone else says *ah*.

[tfunk]

So 'it is' is used to refer to a representation of a boy and 'he is' is only used when pointing directly at the boy himself?

Then the question 'is he a boy?' is erroneous?

[lulu144]

ps I find your avatar sort of disturbing..... I'm at school and I couldn't even read your message as I tend to have koreans standing over me at any point in time... and I'm sure they would wonder.... haha

[tfunk]

Yeh, you're right. I usually post in the off-topic forums about games etc. Gotta keep my private life seperate!

[tzechuk]

[Voyeur]

I believe it is context. "It" should only refer to a boy in a situation where it is not known that the object is a boy yet. Once that is established, "he" becomes the correct pronoun.

So to me, "is it a boy?" is correct if you don't know the gender. "Is he a boy" is correct if you don't know the age. When answering the question you can probably get away with still using "it" one time, sort of riding on the syntax of the original question, but after that it would have to be "he" because it has been established that the object in question is a human and a male.

[Novernae]

As a statement, the sex is already known or you wouldn't be able to make the statement. Therefore "he is a boy." would be correct. If there is a question as to the sex, then "it" would be appropriate. "Is it a boy?" "It is a boy?" (unless it's an obvious confirmation question, in which case I'd use "he").
Also, tzechuk is right in that if 'it' is a pronoun replacing the picture, rather than the "boy" then "it" would be correct. But then if that were the case the answer would be "No, it's a picture."

[oneofthesarahs]

Agreed with everything stated above. That's why birth announcements always say "It's a boy!!" rather than "He's a boy!!" It's assumed that you don't necessarily know the gender of the baby yet. But you're never going to hear some parents review to their kid as "it" once it's born and gender is established.

[yingwenlaoshi]

It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's Superman.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

[Woland]

Pronounce <a> as 'uh' in ordinary speech. Pronounce it as 'ay' (as in 'bay') only when emphaisizing the article.