Pronouns are a handy way to refer to someone or something without having the name it each and every time. For example, instead of saying this article is quite informative. I can say “it is informative” after I’ve defined that “it” refers to this article. Otherwise, my writing would be very repetitive and clunky. A lot of contracts are written without pronouns, so you end up seeing a lot of paragraphs that read “Contractor does this; Contractor does that; Contractor is paid this.” It works, but it is clunky.
This article isn’t a history or grammar lesson, but pronouns have been around forever. They’re a part of speech and therefore have been around basically as long as speech itself. If you don’t like pronouns, my guess is you don’t know what they are. And, since I’ve used hundreds of them in this article, you must absolutely hate my writing style.
Business Pronouns
Now, there are specific rules when referring to businesses. Usually when you refer to a nonperson, you use the “it” pronoun. This works for corporations and most nonprofits. However, this doesn’t work for partnerships and LLCs.
LLCs and partnerships are actually legally a collection of owners. Therefore, you’d typically use the “they/them/their” pronouns in reference to those entities.
Sole proprietorships and single member LLCs are referred to by the pronouns of the individual owner of the company.
These pronoun rules reflect how the distinct legal types are treated under the law.
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