Third-person (inanimate) pronouns

Use the pronouns "it," "they," and "them" unambiguously for inanimate objects.

note

The following guidance covers the use of demonstrative and relative pronouns and third-person pronouns for inanimate objects and concepts. For guidance on using first-, second-, and third-person pronouns for people, check out First, second, and third person.

Inanimate objects take the third-person pronouns "it," "they," and "them." You can use these pronouns to avoid repetition of noun phrases when you have already introduced the subject or object of the discussion.

Using pronouns can help to shorten sentences and avoid repetition. However, when there is more than one noun phrase in a sentence, third-person pronouns (such as "it", "they", and "them") can be unclear.

Unclear pronouns are a problem in content that is translated into languages that use gendered nouns. The correct translation depends on the number and gender of the noun phrase that the pronoun refers to. If the translator can’t determine the correct noun phrase, the translated content could be wrong.

The following guidelines for determining how to use pronouns for inanimate objects also apply when you want to use the possessive forms "its," "their," and "theirs."

It

Each time you use "it" to refer to a noun phrase, make sure that the reader can unambiguously identify which noun phrase it refers to.

To rewrite a sentence where "it" has more than one possible referent, you can replace "it" with a version of the correct noun phrase. If repeating the noun phrase makes the sentence sound unnatural, try reformulating the sentence to avoid repetition.

Incorrect	Correct
You can’t change the REUSE= attribute of a compressed file after it is created.	You can’t change the REUSE= attribute of a compressed file after the file is created.
Correct the error in your script before you submit it again.	Correct the error before you submit the script again.

Non-referential it

Sometimes, "it" is used in a sentence where it doesn't refer to anything:

• When you write software applications, it is important that you test them rigorously.
• SRP Core makes it easier to create or customize a scriptable render pipeline (SRP).

These uses of "it" can’t be replaced with a noun phrase because they don’t refer to anything. However, they can make translation more difficult. As much as possible, structure your writing to avoid non-referential uses of "it." For example, you can rewrite the previous sentences as follows:

• Rigorous testing is an important part of writing software applications.
• You can create or customize a scriptable render pipeline (SRP) easily with SRP Core.

They, them

Each time you use "they" or "them," make sure that the reader can unambiguously identify the noun phrase that the pronoun refers to.

If your sentence mentions more than one noun phrase and includes "they" or "them," readers might not be sure which noun phrase "they" or "them" refers to. In English, the difference might not stop the reader from understanding the overall meaning. However, the ambiguity can cause problems for translation.

For example, in the following sentence, does "them" refer to "FBX file" or "model prefab"?

• The FBX Importer allows you to import an FBX file as a model prefab and create prefab variants from them.

To rewrite a sentence where "they" or "them" has more than one possible referent, you can replace the pronoun with a version of the correct noun phrase. If repeating the noun phrase makes the sentence sound unnatural, try reformulating the sentence to avoid repetition.

Incorrect	Correct
Resource files, which are chunks of binary data stored separately for certain types of assets (textures and audio files) so that Unity can efficiently load them from disk on another thread.	Resource files, which are chunks of binary data stored separately for certain types of assets (textures and audio files) so that Unity can efficiently load the assets from disk on another thread.
Develop a strategy for grouping your assets into separate bundles and implement the code for choosing when to load them.	Develop a strategy for grouping your assets into separate bundles and implement the code for choosing when to load each bundle.