small guide on how to use neutral language in spanish.
They / Them
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| They | Elle |
| Them | Le |
| Their | De elle |
| Themselves | Elles mismes |
It/Its
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| It | Eso/Esa/Ese |
| Its | De eso/esa/ese |
| itself | Eso mismo/misma/misme |
! Do not use it/its pronouns on people without their consent !
Gendered words
In spanish, almost every word has a gender, so you gotta use EL for male and LA for female, P.E:LA rosa (rosa means rose and its female)
EL vaso (vaso means glass and its male)Most adjectives are gendered according to what you describe:LA rosa es BONITA
The A at the end means rosa is femaleEL vaso es ROJO
The O at the end means vaso is maleSome words are gendered depending on the contextThe girl is pretty = LA niñA es bonitAThe boy is pretty = EL niñO es bonitOSo, what about describing people?Gender neutral/nonbinary language in spanish is very diverse, that means "elle/le" is not the only neutral pronoun.
Gender neutral/nonbinary pronouns
Note: They might not have a way to be translated, most people who use these pronouns go by neopronouns so the safest way is asking.Here ill add some of the gender neutral pronouns in spanish and how to use them (the first row will be an example in english using they/them)
| Subject | Object | Possesive Adjective | Possesive Pronouns | Reflexive pronouns | Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| they | them | their | theirs | themselves | they are pretty |
| elli | li | de elli | de elli | elli mismi | elli es boniti |
| ellx (pronounced as elle) | lx | de ellx | de ellx | ellx mismx | ellx es bonitx |
| ell * (pronounced as elle or elli) | l* | de ell* | de ell* | ell* mism* | ell* es bonit* |
Old gender neutral language
When talking about gender neutral language in spanish, you might encounter the use of @ (P.E Amig@, Vecin@)
This, however is not inclusive and it enforces gender binary
Using @ is pretty much like saying "he or she" instead of "they".
Feminism in language
The use of x/e instead of a/o was made by a feminist group to stop saying "ellos" as a neutral plural, when "ellos" is a masculine term and "ellas" is only used when the whole group you are refering to is women.
This means that if you have a group of 10 women and 1 man, you would say "ellos" instead of "ellas" just because of that 1 man."Ellxs/elles" as a plural form was used since the late 60's, but ellx/elles as gender neutral pronouns started around 2010 and its used nowadays in both ways, and it helped other pronouns such as ell* or elli be popular and used.
Gendered words
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| King/Queen/Ruler | Rey/Reina/Reinx o Realeza |
| Girl/Boy/Kid/Child | Niña/niño/niñx o infante |
| Wife/Husband/Spouse | Esposa/Esposo/Esposx o Cónyuge |
| Boyfriend/Girlfriend/Partner | Novio/Novia/Novix o pareja |
If you have any questions, feel free to dm me:
Sources:
