In English, both it and they are used to refer to a company.
Example: According to the company, they (it) have (has) more than 50,000 employees.
The choice of pronoun depends on many things: context, type of written communication, house style, and more.
The common view is that in American English, company is referred to as it, whereas in British English, company is referred to as it or they, but they is more common.
In reality, many of those who write in American English use they to refer to a company. And many people who use British English call a company it. So there’s no drastic difference in usage on the two sides of the Atlantic.
It or they to mean company?
In informal writing, choose the pronoun (it or they) for company that sounds natural to you in the given context.
In formal writing, use it for a company and you cannot go wrong. This is the safe choice, no matter if you write a paper, legal agreement, research proposal, or other formal document. Or, you can avoid the it vs. they choice by rephrasing the sentence.
The right pronoun for the word company: it vs. they
Whether you use it or they to refer to a company is a matter of style. If you choose it, you can’t go wrong. But they sounds more natural in many cases.
There’s one more argument in favor of it as a pronoun for an organization: When you use it, there’s no doubt you mean the company as a legal entity. But if you need to use they to refer to a company, maybe you need to be more specific. When you say “they”, do you mean the company’s executives, spokespeople, employees, representatives? Will your message be clear to the reader? If you have doubts, edit the sentence for clarity.
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Related posts:
- Number formatting in Europe vs. the U.S.
- When to use scare quotes in formal writing
- Is “et al.” singular or plural?
Last revised on 20 July 2022
