My pronouns are:

ze/zir

(Neopronoun “ze/zir”)

Example usage in sentences:

  • I think ze is very nice.
  • I asked zir if I can borrow zir pencil.
  • Ze told me that the house is zirs.
  • Ze said ze would rather do it zirself.
Derived from ze/hir in the 1990s, with a history reaching as far back as 1848. Coining in 1972, as ze/zim/zees/zeeself, was based on the German plural 3rd person pronoun sie.

Table:

Subject Object Possessive determiner Possessive pronoun Reflexive
ze /zi/ zir /zəɹ/ zir /zəɹ/ zirs /zəɹz/ zirself /zəɹˈsɛlf/

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Examples from cultural texts:

Neopronoun “ze/zir” (ze/zir)

  • One Day at a Time (Season 2, Episode 3: "To Zir, With Love") , 2018

    • I'm Margaux. Pronouns "ze" and "zir".

  • Teenage Bounty Hunters (Season 1, Episode 7) , 2020

    • –"In an autocracy, when the despot is down, it's every person for herself."
      –"Zirself."
      –"Zirself."

  • Ella BraidwoodThe Chinese transgender choir who’re singing for acceptance (PinkNews) , 2019

    • Yuran, now 31, came out as trans in 2015 and started buying testosterone online. The Trans Chorus singer had struggled with zir gender identity growing up.
  • Charlie Jane AndrewsBecause Change Was the Ocean and We Lived by Her Mercy, 2017 ; uses the spelling "zi" instead of "ze"

    • Juya had these big bright eyes that laughed when the rest of zir face was stone serious, and strong tentative hands to hold me in place as zi tied me to the car seat with fronds of algae. I had never felt as safe and dangerous as when I crossed the wasteland with Juya.
  • Erica CameronPax Novis, 2019

    • Breaths hitched in zir chest, blocked by the lump in zir throat, and ze felt zir eyes widen. Ze didn't have training in keeping zir thoughts hidden behind an emotionless mask. What ze knew had been learned from cycles as a station rat and all the times zir life had depended on how well ze told a lie.

What's the deal with pronouns?

Pronouns are those words that we use instead of calling someone by their name every time we mention them. Most people use “he/him” and “she/her”, so we automatically assume which one to call them based on someone's looks. But it's actually not that simple…

Gender is complicated. Some people “don't look like” their gender. Some prefer being called in a different way from what you'd assume. Some people don't fit into the boxes of “male” or “female” and prefer more neutral language.

This tool lets you share a link to your pronouns, with example sentences, so that you can show people how you like to be called.

Why does it matter? Because of simple human decency. You wouldn't call Ashley “Samantha” just because you like that name more or because “she looks like a Samantha to you”. Or even if she does have the name “Samantha” in her birth certificate but she absolutely hates it and prefers to use “Ashley”. And it's the exact same story with pronouns – if you don't want to be rude towards someone, please address them properly. The only difference is that we usually know names, but not pronouns. We introduce ourselves with a name, but not pronouns. Let's change that!

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