Pronouns
Ensure pronouns clearly refer to their antecedents. Use gender-neutral pronouns for general users, and avoid vague phrasing. First-person pronouns are suitable for tutorials only.
Pronouns replace nouns. When you use pronouns in your writing, make sure that the pronoun correctly refers to the noun it replaces, known as its antecedent.
Follow these best practices for using personal pronouns in documentation:
| Pronoun | When to use it | For more information |
|---|---|---|
| He, his, him She, hers, her | Avoid using gender-specific pronouns when referring to a general user or fictional persona for your documentation. Use a gender-neutral third-person pronoun instead. | Gender-neutral pronouns |
| It, its | Avoid vague phrasing using the third-person pronoun "it". Use a specific noun instead. | Vague pronouns |
| That, which, who | Use "that" for essential clauses, "which" for nonessential clauses, and "who" when referring to people. | Relative pronouns |
| They, their, them | Use a gender-neutral third-person pronoun if you need to refer to a general user or a fictional persona. | Gender-neutral pronouns |
| We, our, us | Avoid using first-person pronouns except in the case of tutorial documentation. You can use the first-person plural pronoun "we" only if it's important to create a sense of community with the reader in a tutorial. | Personal pronouns |
| You, yours | Use the second-person singular pronoun "you" to address a single user directly. This applies to most cases in Splunk documentation. | Gender-neutral pronouns |