Pronouns, and how to use them

The most widely used gender-neutral pronoun in English, and the oldest: singular they has been in the language for centuries.

Ze/zir is the best-known neopronoun: a fresh subject word, ze, with an object form, zir, that behaves like her.

Fae/faer is a neopronoun borrowed from the word for fairy folk; it declines like she/her and is mostly used online.

The Spivak set is they/them with the th cut off: e, em, eir, eirs, emself. It is singular, easy to say, and has a documented history.

Ve/ver is a neopronoun with a science-fiction pedigree: ve, ver, vis, vis, verself, best known from Greg Egan's novels.

Per/pers is short for person: per is the subject and object, pers the possessive, perself the reflexive. A novelist made it famous.

Co/cos is a 1970 feminist coinage still used in some intentional communities: co, co, cos, cos, coself.

Sie/hir pairs a subject word said like see with hir, a blend of him, his and her. It dates from the early 1990s online.

Xe is a neopronoun that works exactly like he or she in a sentence: xe is, xe does, singular all the way.

Ze/hir pairs a new subject word, ze, with hir, a blend of him, his and her that is said exactly like "here".

Ey/em is they/them with the th dropped: ey went, I saw em, eir book, it is eirs, ey did it emself.

It/its is a real, chosen pronoun for some people, and a slur when used on anyone who did not choose it. Consent is the whole rule.

Ne/nem is a neopronoun on the pattern of he/him: ne is, I saw nem, nir coat, it is nirs, ne did it nemself.

Ae/aer is a neopronoun from a 1920 science-fiction novel, now used by real people: ae is, I saw aer, aer coat, it is aers, aerself.

Thon is the oldest neopronoun on record: proposed in 1858 as a squeeze of "that one", once in a dictionary, now in use again.

Some people use no pronouns at all: you use their name every time, or rephrase. It is a practice, not a set.