Bonjour!
-
Bonjour! I am learning French. I'm at the very beginning and learning pronouns. What is the most common way to denote "nonbinary" in French?
Update -- top suggestions so far are:
- iel
- ael@c0debabe the most common nb pronoun i have encountered so far is 'iel'. technically 'on' also counts but its less personal (mainly passive voice). 'ça' can be used in the same way as 'it'
-
@c0debabe the most common nb pronoun i have encountered so far is 'iel'. technically 'on' also counts but its less personal (mainly passive voice). 'ça' can be used in the same way as 'it'
-
Bonjour! I am learning French. I'm at the very beginning and learning pronouns. What is the most common way to denote "nonbinary" in French?
Update -- top suggestions so far are:
- iel
- ael@c0debabe in terms of non-binary pronouns, we had to invent what is often considered as a neopronoun, "iel", which is a middle ground between "il" (masculine) and "'elle" (feminine). Some people prefer to use "ael", which isn't a mix between masc and fem, so it often fit better to people feeling outside of that duality.
Important thing to consider: this is purely a subjective approach I have there, it's based on the non-binary people I know and how they use their pronouns, it's absolutely not something set in stone.
-
Bonjour! I am learning French. I'm at the very beginning and learning pronouns. What is the most common way to denote "nonbinary" in French?
Update -- top suggestions so far are:
- iel
- ael@c0debabe the most common non-binary pronoun is iel (combination of il and elle) and for adjective termination, you'll most often see the masculine and feminine terminations joined together with an interpunkt (point médian)
e.g. : iel est mignon•ne
this is called "écriture inclusive", you should be able to find resources looking for that. Be aware that non-binary awareness and acceptance is very low outside of queer circles and that you might get told that this is incorrect or improper.
-
@eramdam I do not expect it would be easy. It's a living language we're going through. Just trying to figure out what the community is pushing for so I can help.

-
Bonjour! I am learning French. I'm at the very beginning and learning pronouns. What is the most common way to denote "nonbinary" in French?
Update -- top suggestions so far are:
- iel
- ael@c0debabe @onepict Fellow second-language learner perspective here. My local french immersion school most commonly uses iel as a nonbinary pronoun, but kids still have to choose masc or fem agreements for other words. "Iel est une petite enfant" or "iel est un petit enfant". I know at least one nonbinary bilingual kid who uses ul as a pronoun
-
@c0debabe in terms of non-binary pronouns, we had to invent what is often considered as a neopronoun, "iel", which is a middle ground between "il" (masculine) and "'elle" (feminine). Some people prefer to use "ael", which isn't a mix between masc and fem, so it often fit better to people feeling outside of that duality.
Important thing to consider: this is purely a subjective approach I have there, it's based on the non-binary people I know and how they use their pronouns, it's absolutely not something set in stone.
@adzetko thank you for chiming in! I do not expect it would be easy. It's a living language we're going through. Just trying to figure out what the community is pushing for so I can help.

-
-
-
-
Bonjour! I am learning French. I'm at the very beginning and learning pronouns. What is the most common way to denote "nonbinary" in French?
Update -- top suggestions so far are:
- iel
- ael@c0debabe everybody helped but I wanted to note how even with non-binary pronouns, the real problem is that the language is gendered so it's a conscious effort to choose a gender to conjugate your words…
so you should take into account what gender the person would prefer you to use with the pronoun -
P pixelate@tweesecake.social shared this topic