Hey, today we’ll be talking about personal pronouns that refer to countries and ships.
Pronouns, just like nouns, adjectives or verbs, to mention just a few, are a separate part of speech. Personal pronouns, in particular, are one of the major classes of pronouns.
As you know, we use the pronouns HE/HIM/HIS for males, both people and animals, and SHE/HER for females, also both people and animals. For all other nouns we use the neuter pronouns IT/ITS. But there are some exceptions to this rule.
The exceptions include the names of countries and ships. Countries and ships do not have any biological gender, so we should use the neuter personal pronoun. And this is fine. We often use the neuter personal pronouns IT/ITS. Have a look:
The Sea Eagle was a great ship.
It sank on its first voyage.
But it’s very common to see the feminine personal pronouns:
She sank on her first voyage.
Here’s an example with a country.
France was ruined in the war.
But after the war it quickly recovered and soon doubled its economy.
So, here we have the neuter pronouns IT and ITS.
But it’s very common to see feminine pronouns with countries:
But after the war she quickly recovered and soon doubled her economy.
Here are some more examples with feminine pronouns. First some ships:
The Titanic was a great ship, but she never crossed the ocean.
I just read a book about the Santa Maria and her crew.
The Mayflower carried her passengers to America.
And now some countries:
Last year I went to Germany and visited some of her picturesque towns.
We were talking about Great Britain and her former colonies today.
I love Canada and her people.
INFO
If you like the article and would like to see more content like this, make sure to subscribe to my Prospero English YouTube channel and visit my blog at prosperoenglish.com.
And also please subscribe to my mailing list and newsletter. I have a present for all subscribers – my free 67-page e-book on English Tenses with all the tenses explained in detail.