Help settle 2nd grade homework argument * Update with graded paper result

[piglet too]

My DS7 and I are at a disagreement over a homework problem. Please help us by telling what you think the right answer is.

Write pronouns to replace the underlined words.

"My dog Charlie snatched a cookie."
Should it be
"He snatched a cookie."
or
"It snatched a cookie."

Thank you all in advance for your help.

 

[mommasita]

I would think, he..Not a professional, so]


If you try the sentence the other way: HE SNATCHED A COOKIE, it makes sense, the other way IT SNATCHED A COOKIE, does not

 

[SwedishMeatball]

He. A dog is not an inatimate object.

 

[Princess89]

"he"

 

[Cool-Beans]

He. If the name wasn't included, I'd have gone with "it." I'm not 100% sure, because dogs aren't people...but I think "he" is appropriate.

I often call one of my birds "it." Sometimes I call it, "the damned thing," but that would not be a good 2nd grade answer.

I also think that the dog's name should have commas around it. I could be wrong, though. Always was the queen of putting commas where commas don't belong, lol.

 

[MyManGoofy!]

It is usually reserved for inanimate objects or when gender is unknown.

 

[Narnian_Princess]

Another vote for "he".

 

[rie'smom]

It's proper for animals to be it. If it's personification,then use gender specific terms.

 

[java]

Another he vote here..
Unless of course you were saying it-then I say it. standing by the mom.

 

[daisyduck123]

1st grade teacher here

We actually had this same situation come up in our Open Court student workbooks yesterday. We were having an exercise on pronouns & had to replace the word "dog" with a pronoun.

Some of the kids thought the answer was "it", others thought "he".
In our situation though, we did not know the dog's gender.

I actually checked the teacher's manual & the answer was "it".

Since you know the dog's gender though, I'd be inclined to go with "he".

 

[mommasita]

It's proper for animals to be it.

is it? It just sounds NOT right to me.. At least not in this sentence. We seem to KNOW the dog, by naming it

 

[freckles and boo]

Is Charlie a male or a female dog?

 

[piglet too]

We do not know if the dog is male or female.

I (DH and DS12) am saying it is "he" while DS7 is saying it is "it." We agreed to go with the majority on this, and will go up to bed time to see what that may be.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Is Charlie a male or a female dog?

Good point.

I would go with "He." If the original sentence was The dog stole the cookie, then I think "It" should be used.

 

[rie'smom]

is it? It just sounds NOT right to me.. At least not in this sentence. We seem to KNOW the dog, by naming it

I know,this drives me crazy. I think of my dogs as my babies. Unless this has changed in the past couple of years,my English prof said that unless the animals are being personified,the correct pronoun is "it".

 

[Cool-Beans]

Tell the kid to go with "it" if that is what (s)he wants to answer. If it is wrong, the child will never forget.

They could always accuse the teacher of sexism for determining the name "Charlie" to be masculine.

 

[piglet too]

DS has argued his point very well. (The boy is going to be a politician, I know it) He says that since "Charlie" could be a boy or a girl, that the answer should be "it."

He originally said "it" because animals are supposed to be "it" according to him.

Thanks for all the imput, and keep it coming. He is enjoying this.

 

[mommasita]

K..I found this..Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal Yes. “Apply a personal pronoun to an animal only if its sex has been established or it has a name: The dog was frightened; it barked. Spot was frightened; he barked. The cat, which was frightened, ran away. Lady the cat, who was frightened, ran away. The bull lowers his head.”

Washington Post Yes. “Non-pet animals without names are ‘it’ and ‘which.’ Pets and other animals with names can be ‘he,’ ‘she’ and ‘who.’

Reference I found: http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache...ronoun+for+an+animal&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=ca

 

[beagle744]

Its a good thing the dog's name wasn't Sybil. Then you'd be trying to figure out if "they" was appropriate.

 

[mommasita]

I think I am more confused now..>As I don't know the sex, but assumed Charlie was a boy.