Are you wondering how to use gender-neutral pronouns in Spanish, or how to translate “they/them” into Spanish? I’m far from fluent, unfortunately, but I do speak un poquito de Español. Since gender-neutral pronouns are important for me to express myself and represent my gender identity externally, I wanted to learn and share about gender-neutral words in Spanish.
This post is all about gender-neutral pronouns in Spanish.
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They them pronouns in Spanish
Spanish has gendered third-person pronouns, like English. “Él” translates to “he” and “ella” translates to “she.” Unlike English, which uses “they” for a group of people, Spanish uses the masculine and feminine: “ellos” or “ellas,” respectively.
Spanish first person or second person pronouns (translated as “I” or “you”) are not gendered: “yo” and “tu” or “usted”.
So how can a nonbinary person, una persona no binaria, represent themselves in Spanish? First of all, not all nonbinary people use gender-neutral language for themselves. A nonbinary person could use she/her or he/him pronouns and the translated equivalents: ella o él pronombres. Another option would be alternating or using both masculine and feminine pronouns.
Elle instead of él or ella
A gender-neutral pronoun, “elle,” is gaining popularity, with some controversy from folks who do not want the language to change. Instead of saying “él” or “ella,” “elle” is the gender-neutral equivalent. For example:
Elle está leyendo un libro.
Drawing from my experience as an English speaker, to use a new set of pronouns for someone, I need to practice on my own to make those words flow smoothly. “Elle” is perhaps closer to neopronouns such as “ze/zir”’ or “e/em” in English, as it’s not already in common usage as a singular pronoun in Spanish, as “they” is in English.
If you get someone’s pronoun wrong, a simple apology and basic correction is best. An extended apology could make someone uncomfortable, or feel like they have to help you feel better about your minor mistake.
Él está leyendo, lo siento, elle está leyendo mi libro favorito.
When speaking about a group of people, you can use “elles,” instead of “ellos” or “ellas.” Gender-neutral language benefits everyone, not just nonbinary people. In Spanish, the default is to use the plural masculine. For example, when speaking about a group of ten women, you can use “ellas,” but as soon as one man arrives, the group becomes “ellos.” What if you read the gender of the (cis or trans) participants wrong? And, it minimizes women’s contributions to group everyone using masculine language.
How to ask someone’s pronouns in Spanish
It’s not possible to infer someone’s pronouns from looking at them, hearing their voice, or reading their name. Many people list their pronouns visibly online, in a social media bio, on their website, or in their email signature. Those places can be a great way to find out what pronouns someone uses without bothering them. If you have spent a few minutes researching, and cannot figure it out, it’s a good idea to ask the person directly, what are your pronouns?
¿Cuáles son tus pronombres?
Some people might use different pronouns professionally, with their family, with their friends, and their pronouns might change over time. If you are a journalist, you should confirm the pronouns of people you are writing about, either with a recent online reference (such as a social media bio) or by asking your source what pronouns you should use for them in your piece.
Hopefully this article has helped you learn how to address someone in a gender-neutral way in Spanish. Thanks for reading!
For the kids in your life, check out They Call Me Mix/Me Llaman Maestre by Lourdes Rivas. This great bilingual (English and Spanish) children’s book shares the experience of a transgender person of color. The empowering story shows a child figuring out the language that works best to describe their experience.
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Thank You for writing this! I was curious, and I learned so much from this! 🙂
You’re very welcome! I’m glad it was helpful.
Hi! Thanks so much for this article! I was wondering if you have any tips about gender neutral adjectives in Spanish, and/or about gender neutral words for friend? An old site mentioned amig@ as one that some people were using. Thanks again for your accessible and clear article!
Thanks so much for your kind feedback and suggestion! I will add some more info on gender neutral adjectives and words for friend after I do a little research and check on what are the best practices. Thanks!
I use they/them pronouns and fluently speak spanish, and am going on an upcoming trip to Costa Rica. I wasn’t sure how to ask people to use my pronouns, but here are some phrases I’ve learned: “Yo uso los pronombres elle/elles” means “I use they/them pronouns.” Adjacently, “Mis pronombres son elle y elles” means “my pronouns are they and them. The gender-neutral in spanish is ending with the nonfemenine and the nonmasculine, which in Spanish is an “E”. So you could say “Amige.” Another less popular ending is “X”, which doesn’t translate as well into Spanish as it does into Latin. You can change most words regarding a person to end with e and it will make it gender-neutral. i.e. Amige, Novie, Hermane, Amige, Abuele. I am not however a native spanish speaker so I may not be entirely accurate. Be sure to do your research, but I hope this is a good start : )
Thanks so much for sharing!
Spanish speaker here. A small note is that “ellos” and “todos” being seen as masculine-only and minimizing of women’s contributions is a highly controversial topic sometimes associated to illiteracy. It is taught as depending on context to either be all-male or gender neutral. While some people are trying to change it to something like “elles” o “todxs”, it’s worth mentioning that “ellos” is officially acknowledged as the gender neutral plural by the RAE(instead of there being none, as claimed by some people). Changing it would mostly be useful only for making it phonetically coherent with neo-pronouns, but it is generally frowned upon when people want to change it “because it is masculine-only”.
Source: https://www.clarin.com/sociedad/todes-real-academia-espanola-puso-freno-lenguaje-inclusivo_0_Z7Xon96OQ.html
Thanks so much for sharing this info and contributing to the resource here. I appreciate your explanation and input.