Ze / Zir / Zirs

Ze/zir/zirs is a set of neopronouns, meaning newly coined pronouns used as gender-neutral alternatives to he/him/his and she/her/hers. In a sentence it works like this: 'Ze went to the meeting; I spoke with zir; that bag is zirs.' The set appears in several spellings, including ze/hir and ze/zir, with the zir spelling favored for its consistent pronunciation. These pronouns have circulated in LGBTQ+ communities for decades, and the Oxford English Dictionary added entries for 'ze' in 2018 and 'zir' in 2019. Using the pronouns a person asks for, neopronouns included, is a basic form of respect.