By Caroline Forsey

The world has made small but mighty strides towards inclusivity, and language plays a big part in that.

We’ve become rightfully aware of the importance of not labeling people, as everyone has the right to self-identify as they please and use validating pronouns.

Whether you want to brush up on your knowledge or are new to adopting them, this piece is your guide to gender neutral pronouns and how to use them.

Table of Contents

• Gender Neutral Pronouns List
• Gender Neutral Pronouns
• How to Use Gender Neutral Pronouns
• Gender Neutral Pronouns Considerations

The list above are common gender-neutral pronouns.

While she and he are considered gendered, some nonbinary people use them because they don’t feel attached to the gender typically associated with them.

Someone will typically share their own pronouns but, when it doubt, you can simply refer to someone by their name.

How to Use Gender Neutral Pronouns

In English, “He” is often used as an automatic fill-in for generic individuals.

“He” and “she” are also two extreme binaries that don’t leave room for other gender identities, which can be hurtful for transgender, nonbinary, and gender queer communities.

Ultimately, you probably don’t want to make incorrect or hurtful assumptions about someone’s gender — they could be agender, nonbinary, or uncomfortable identifying with “he” or “she.”

Gender-neutral language ensures your sentences are inclusive of everyone. But, when in doubt, refer to someone by their name rather than “him” or “her.”

“They” is one of the more common gender-neutral pronouns, and it’s easy to incorporate into your daily conversations. Here are some examples of how to use it:

• “I spoke to the marketing director and they said they’d get back to me.”
• “I think someone left their laptop behind.”
• “Who’s in charge of that campaign? I’ll email them.”

Let’s go over some examples of how you’d use other pronouns in conversation.

Ze/hir/hirs

• “Where did ze go?”
• “This pencil belongs to hir.”
• “Ze would rather do it hirself.”

Xe/xem/Xirs

• “I think xe is nice.”
• “Tell xem I say hello.”
• “That sandwich is xirs.”

Ver/vir/Vis

• “I think ver is nice.”
• “I borrowed vis pencil.”
• “I went to the store with vir.”

Te/tem/ter

• “Te went to the store.”
• “I borrowed it from tem.”
• “That’s ter dog.”

Ey/em/eir

• “Ey wrote me a note.”
• “That belongs to em.”
• “I asked to borrow eir pencil.”

Gender Neutral Pronoun Considerations

1. How to Learn Someone’s Pronouns

Upon first meeting someone, most people agree it’s best not to outright ask for pronouns because someone may feel like you’re assuming their gender identity. In some cases, it may put someone in a situation where they have to out themselves but don’t want to or aren’t ready to.

Instead, …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog

Author: Aaron