Pronouns are words that can be used in place of a noun. The most common example of pronouns are personal pronouns, which refer to the person or people speaking (first person), the person or people being spoken to (second person), or other people or things (third person). In many languages third person personal pronouns are gendered. Because of that the pronouns one uses are often used by people as a way to identity the gender of a person. However, that does not always work as some people use pronouns that do not align with their gender, known as pronoun non-conformity.
Some English speakers choose to go by pronouns that are not found in standard English, known as neopronouns, or nounself pronouns.
Male Pronouns
He/Him pronouns are typically used by men. 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."
Examples:
- Nominative: He (He went to the store.)
- Accusative: Him (I met him today.)
- Pronominal possessive: His (If he does not get a haircut, his hair grows long.)
- Predicative possessive: His (If I need a phone my friend will let me borrow his.)
- Reflexive: Himself (He has to drive himself to school.)
Female Pronouns
She/Her pronouns are typically used by women.
Examples:
- Nominative: She (She went to the store.)
- Accusative: Her (I met her today.)
- Pronominal possessive: Her (If she does not get a haircut, her hair grows long.)
- Predicative possessive: Hers (If I need a phone my friend will let me borrow hers.)
- Reflexive: Herself (She has to drive herself to school.)
Singular They
The Oxford English Dictionary traces singular "they" back to 1375, and throughout the middle ages and renaissance it was used as a singular gender neutral pronoun. 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". The idea that singular they is grammatically incorrect continued to the modern day, although it is not strictly followed, as many people still use "they" when referring to an unknown person. In the modern day singular they is often used by non-binary people as a non-gendered pronoun.
Examples:
- Nominative: They (They went to the store.)
- Accusative: Them (I met them today.)
- Pronominal possessive: Their (If they do not get a haircut, their hair grows long.)
- Predicative possessive: Theirs (If I need a phone my friend will let me borrow theirs.)
- Reflexive: Themself or themselves (They have to drive themself to school. OR They have to drive themselves to school.)