《牛津英语用法指南》第三版指出:
人们有时称呼动物 he 或 she ,尤其是当他们认为动物有性格、有头脑或有感情的时候。这种说法常用于猫、狗、马等宠物和驯养的动物。如:
Once upon a time there was a rabbit called Joe. He lived ... 从前有一只兔子名叫乔。他住在……
Go and find the cat and put her out. 去找找那只猫,把她放出去。
此时,who 常用来替代 which。如:
She had an old dog who always slept in her bed. 她有一条老狗。那狗总是睡在她的床上。
有些人用 she 指汽车、摩托车等;水手常用 she 来指大、小船只(但其他人一般用it)。......
可以用 she 来指国家,但在现代英语中 it 更为普遍。如:
France has decided to increase its trade with Romania . ( 或 ... her trade ...) 法国决定增加它对罗马尼亚的贸易额。