My pronouns are:

e/em/es

(Neopronoun “e/em/es”)

Example usage in sentences:

  • I think e is very nice.
  • I met em recently.
  • Is this es dog?
  • E told me that the house is ems.
  • E said e would rather do it emself.
First coined by Francis Augustus Brewsterin in 1841, but also often credited to James Rogers in 1890. Since then multiple versions were created, differing in declension and capitalisation.

Table:

Subject Object Possessive determiner Possessive pronoun Reflexive
e /i/ em /ɛm/ es /iz/ ems /ɛmz/ emself /ɛmˈsɛlf/

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Examples from cultural texts:

Neopronoun “e/em/es” (e/em/es)

  • Donald MacKayPsychology, Prescriptive Grammar, and the Pronoun Problem (American Psychologist. 35 (5): 444–449) , 1980

    • Whether E is the best possible neologism is an­other matter. Determining a "best possible" neologism presents an unsolved problem of considerable theoretical magnitude. Current theories suffice to distinguish between actual versus possible versus impossible words without regard to concepts, but such a project requires new theories for discriminating within the indefinitely large set of possible words to find the one most suited for expressing a particular concept like "he or she."
  • James RogersThat Impersonal Pronoun ("The Writer") , 1890

    • Every writer has 'es' verbal likes and dislikes, yet, for the sake of convenience, I trust that even 'e' who dislikes verbal innovations will give my little word a little trial and note for me the result.
  • Emery LeeMeet Cute Diary, 2021 ; Devin, a character from the book, uses both e/em and xe/xem pronouns

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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