Pronouns: Difference between revisions

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*Predicative Possessive: Used to show possession of a noun, coming directly after a linking verb. This is the least common pronoun form, as it requires a very specific sentence construction that it's common in normal speech. When listing out the forms of a pronoun, this is the form that it most commonly left out. (If I need a phone my friend will let me borrow ''theirs'').

He/Him pronouns are typically, but not always, used by men, masculine-aligned people, or people who want to present masculinely. In the eighteenth century, when prescriptive grammarians decided that singular they was no longer acceptable as a gender-neutral pronoun, they instead recommended "gender-neutral he."

She/Her pronouns are typically, but not always, used by women, feminine-aligned people, or people who want to present femininely.

The Oxford English Dictionary traces singular "they" back to 1375<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'' (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005.</ref>, and throughout the middle ages and renaissance it was used as a singular gender neutral pronoun, making it one of the oldest pronouns in the English language. However, in the 18th century prescriptive grammarians declared that "they" should only be used when referring to multiple people, and suggested using a "gender-neutral he" as an alternative.<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=d68sHzfpWVMC</ref> Reason given for this are: 1) Latin did not have a singular, gender neutral pronoun, and since Latin was a more prestigious language, prescriptivists thought that English should be more like Latin. 2) When plural pronouns are used certain verbs change form (ie: "he was" vs "they were"). These verbs always change when 'they' is used, even when used for a single person. This was an unacceptable inconsistency according to prescriptivists.

The idea that singular they is grammatically incorrect continues to the modern day, although it is not strictly followed in normal speech. Most people will use "they" when referring to an unknown person without realizing it. In the modern day singular they is often used by [[Non-Binary|non-binary]] people as a gender neutral pronoun. They/Them pronouns are typically, but not always, used by people who want to present in a gender neutral way or otherwise don't want to present masculinity or femininely

In English reflective pronouns either end with -self when singular and -selves when plural. Since the singular form of they was deemed to be "incorrect" the word themself is often considered to not be a word, with the correct version being themselves. However, themself may be used when using singular they.

The pronoun "it" is traditionally used for inanimate objects, and occasionally for animals. Some people use it/its pronouns as a gender neutral pronoun, however this "it" should only be used for a person if they say it's okay to do so, as to do otherwise is dehumanizing.

==See also==

* {{See Wikipedia}}