Section: Inclusive writing
Go to the main page of this section: Inclusive writing – Guidelines and resources.
On this page
Introduction
There’s always more than one way to express the same idea. Gender-inclusive writing techniques can help you omit or replace gendered pronouns in your sentences, but sometimes no single technique fits the bill. However, there are still creative ways to modify a sentence without losing your essential meaning.
Guidelines for rewriting the sentence
When no single technique quite fits, you may have to step back, think carefully about your intended meaning and make bigger changes to your wording or sentence structure.
The amount of revision will vary from sentence to sentence:
- Two sentences can become a single sentence with two verbs.
- A dependent clause can be replaced with a phrase.
- One verb can be replaced with another that doesn’t require a structure containing a pronoun.
The possibilities are endless.
However, keep in mind that rewriting your sentence may alter its meaning. Before you do any rewriting that could introduce even the subtlest of changes, consider the purpose of the document and its intended audience. Is it a legal or quasi-legal document like a contract, a collective agreement or a court document? If so, then it would be advisable to consider a different inclusive-writing technique that doesn’t risk altering the intended meaning.
The examples in the table below show a variety of approaches you can use when rewriting a sentence.
| Gendered sentence | Inclusive solution |
|---|---|
| After the server escorts the guests to their table, he can take their drink orders. | The server escorts the guests to their table and then takes their drink orders. |
| When he spots a bug, the computer technician can pause the batch job and investigate further. | Upon spotting a bug, the computer technician can pause the batch job and investigate further. |
| Before the manager reaches a decision, she must consult with the director. | The manager must consult with the director before reaching a decision. |
| No eyewitness could recall everything he or she had seen. | No eyewitness could recall the incident completely. |
| A witness who is evasive in his testimony on the stand may be treated as a hostile witness by the cross-examiner. | A witness who provides evasive testimony on the stand may be treated as hostile by the cross-examiner. |
| In a sea of language tools, which one should he choose? | In a sea of language tools, which one is the best choice? |
| The Minister may appoint a person to the commission if she determines that the applicant has met the requirements. | The Minister may appoint a person to the commission after determining that the applicant has met the requirements. |
Additional information
Copyright notice for Writing Tips Plus
© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Public Services and Procurement
A tool created and made available online by the Translation Bureau, Public Services and Procurement Canada
Search by related themes
Want to learn more about a theme discussed on this page? Click on a link below to see all the pages on the Language Portal of Canada that relate to the theme you selected. The search results will be displayed in Language Navigator.
Related links
- Writing Tips Plus (home page)
- Writing tools
- Language Navigator (for fast access to language tips)
- TERMIUM Plus®