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Homepage Pronouns Dictionary of neutral nouns Examples from cultural texts Extra references Blog Queer community Contact Merch Your account Search
Homepage Pronouns Dictionary of neutral nouns Examples from cultural texts Extra references Blog Queer community Contact Merch Your account

My pronouns are:

they/them/themself

(Singular “they”)

Example usage in sentences:

  • I think they are very nice.
  • I met them recently.
  • Is this their dog?
  • They told me that the house is theirs.
  • They said they would rather do it themself.
Singular “they” has been used in English to describe an unspecified person since the late 1300s (it's even older than singular “you”!). Nowadays, it's the most popular choice among people who prefer gender neutral forms. It starts being accepted by dictionaries too.
It is also common to use “themselves” as a reflexive form.

Table:

Subject Object Possessive determiner Possessive pronoun Reflexive
they them their theirs themself

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Examples from cultural texts:

Singular “they” (they/them)

This list of sources includes both the version with “themselves” and “themself”, as well as those that don't happen to use reflexive.

  • Billions (Season 2, Episode 2) , 2017

    • “Hello, I'm Taylor. My pronouns are they, theirs, and them.”
    • “– She spotted that from outter space?
      – Not she. They.      ”

  • DeGrassi: Next Class (Season 4, Episode 6 “#FactsOnly”) , 2017

    • “My favorite vlogger did a thing about this. They identify as genderqueer. Or, I think there’s another name for it. Um... Genderfluid. They feel like they’re between a boy or a girl. Or both. Or neither.”

  • She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, 2019

    • “Lord Hordak, I’d like to introduce you to Double Trouble. They’re our newest asset in taking down the Rebellion. (Season 4, Episode 3)”
    • “We captured Double Trouble! They’re refusing to talk to us, but... still! (Season 4, Episode 8)”

  • Star Trek: Discovery (Season 3 Episode 8, “The Sanctuary”) , 2020

    • “– But even so, their work has been nothing short of stellar. They're... really something.
      – They're also awake.      ”

  • Alison Flood – Marieke Lucas Rijneveld wins International Booker for The Discomfort of Evening (The Guardian) , 2020

    • “In their acceptance speech, Rijneveld said they wrote the words “be relentless” on the wall above their desk while writing their novel.
      “Today, when the world has been turned upside down and is showing its dark side, I often remember those words. So, write, read, win, lose, love each other, but be relentless in this,” they said.      ”

  • Ben Kesslen – Nonbinary 'Billions' star Asia Kate Dillon won't be 'made precious' (NBC News) , 2019

    • “As Dillon explains it, when they started as a recurring character in Season 2, Taylor was ”sort of introduced as this moral and ethical center in a very unethical world.” A young, queer and nonbinary person entering the male-dominated hedge fund world, their character acted as an antidote to the hedge fund’s money-hungry male employees. But, as Dillon said, power and money “corrupt” and their character wasn’t immune.”

  • Mordechai Laub – Kacen Callender shares the importance of queer novels (Young Entertainment) , 2020

    • “Kacen Callender is a bestselling and award-winning author. They have written novels for middle school readers, young adult readers, and adults. Kacen Callender born and raised in St. Thomas of the US Virgin Islands. Some of Kacen Callender’s novels include This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story and Felix Ever After. ”

  • Alexis Petridis – Sam Smith: Love Goes review – heartbreak album plays it safe in hard times (The Guardian) , 2020

    • “The lyrics stick fast to romantic misery, from infidelity to perfidious swine interested only in Smith’s bank balance. These are perennial topics for Smith, though as they told Lowe, their first two albums were inspired by unrequited love; Love Goes is apparently their “first proper heartbreak album”. ”

  • Star Trek: Discovery Introduces First Transgender and Non-Binary Characters (StarTrek.com) , 2020

    • “Del Barrio was in their final year of studies at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art when they auditioned for the role of Adira. Del Barrio has been acting in theater and short films since the age of 7, and they’re incredibly excited to make their television acting debut in season three of Discovery.”

  • Charlie Jane Andrews – The Bookstore at the End of America (short story from the collection A People's Future of the United States) , 2019

    • “Sander stared at the space where Souls on the Land ought to be, and their pale, round face was full of lines. They had a single tattoo of a butterfly clad in gleaming armor, and the wires rained from the shaved back of their skull. They were some kind of engineer for the Anoth Complex.”

  • Daniel José Older – Star Wars: Last Shot, 2018

    • “Now Taka was yelling something, singing, perhaps, in tune with the melodious love song that the world itself sang. They were insistent, there was somewhere apparently they wanted to be, and wanted Han to be, too, which was lovely.”

  • Kelly Robson – Intervention (in Infinity’s End, edited by Jonathan Strahan) , 2018

    • “Émeraude unclipped and offered the doctor their hand. They were a kid with only two modes: all-out or flatline. A few months back, they’d injured themselves cranking on a crimp, completely bowstringing the flexor tendon.”

  • William Shakespeare – The Comedy of Errors (Act IV, Scene III) , 1594

    • “There's not a man I meet but doth salute me
      As if I were their well-acquainted friend      ”

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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