Ze/Zir

The forms

The forms

Subject	zeze is here
Object	zirI saw zir
Possessive	zirzir book
Possessive (standing alone)	zirsthat is zirs
Reflexive	zirselfby zirself

In a sentence

What it is

Ze/zir is the set people mean when they say "neopronouns". Ze does the work of he or she; zir does the work of him, her and his; zirs is the standalone possessive; zirself is the reflexive. It is regular, which is the point: once you have heard one sentence you can build the rest.

It is also one of the few neopronouns with a written history longer than the internet. There are proposals for ze going back to the 19th century, the Oxford English Dictionary traces it to 1972, and it sits in that dictionary now. Using it is not a fad. Hearing it for the first time can still feel strange, and that is fine: it passes.

How to use it

• Ze takes the singular verb, like he or she: "ze is", "ze has", "ze was". Do not reach for the plural verb you use with they.
• Zir does double duty. It is the object ("I saw zir") and the possessive determiner ("zir bike"), exactly the way her works. Zirs is only for the standalone possessive: "the bike is zirs".
• Say ze to rhyme with see, and zir to rhyme with here or fear. Some people say zir closer to her; both are heard. If in doubt, ask how the person says it and copy them.
• Ze/hir and ze/zir are different sets. Someone who uses ze/hir will not want zir. Check which one, and if their bio says only "ze", ask.
• When you slip, fix it in three words and keep going: "she, sorry, ze, said the meeting moved." The short correction is the respectful one.

Getting used to it

• Take a paragraph about anyone you know and swap every he or she for ze, every him and her for zir, every his and hers for zir or zirs. Read it aloud twice. The second time is already easier.
• Practise the object form on its own: "I asked zir", "give it to zir", "that is for zir". The subject word is easy; zir in the middle of a sentence is where people stumble.
• Drill one correction a day. Say a sentence with the wrong pronoun, correct it in one breath, carry on. It should sound as boring as fixing a mispronounced name.

Who uses this

Ze/Zir comes up on one page in the library.

That is all this list is. No identity requires a pronoun set, and most imply nothing about pronouns at all.

Where it comes from

The subject word ze has been proposed more than once. Dennis Baron records a writer known only as J. W. L. suggesting ze in 1864, and notes that the Oxford English Dictionary, which now lists the word, tracks it back only to 1972. The pairing with zir came later, from the older ze/hir set; Pronouns.page places that in the 1990s. Who first wrote ze with zir is not reliably recorded.

Questions people ask

Other sets

Pronouns are a request about language, not a claim about anyone else. Using someone’s pronouns costs nothing and says a lot.