It/Its is a pronoun set and one of the four exipronoun sets found in contemporary English alongside he, she, and they. They are one of the two neutral 3rd person pronouns in the language (the other being they) and are considered the less respectful of the two when used to refer to a person, as it is most frequently used to describe objects, non-human animals, or babies of an unknown sex.
They are sometimes referred to as neopronouns when used for an individual despite their natural occurrence in the language, due to their traditional usage being primarily a non-human descriptor.
It may be considered an example of dehuman pronouns for this exact reason; It has historically been used derogatorily against transgender and non-binary people and is still sometimes used as an aggressive act of transphobia in the modern day.
Caution should be exercised when using it/its for any individual and the set should only be used when explicit consent is given, due to the aforementioned associations of transphobia and unwanted dehumanization.
How To Use[]
Case | Pronoun | Pronunciation | Example |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | It | /ˈɪt/, (it) | It went to the store. |
Accusative | It | /ˈɪt/, (it) | I met it today. |
Pronominal Possessive | Its | /ˈɪts/, (it-s) | It walked its dog today. |
Predicative Possessive | Its | /ˈɪts/, (it-s) | If I need a phone my friend will let me borrow its. |
Reflexive | Itself | /ɪtˈsɛlf/, (it-self) | It had to drive itself to school. |
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Original Flag; Archive
- ↑ https://beyond-mogai-pride-flags.tumblr.com/tagged/itself
- ↑ Geekycorn's Alternate Flag; Archive
- ↑ BLACKDOGZZ' Alternate Flag; Archive
- ↑ ManiacUniverse's Alternate Flag; Archive
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 bigbottyshaker1's Alternate Flags
- ↑ edemogai's Alternate Flag; Archive
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 plurgai-archive's Alternate Flags (Archived; original post unavailable
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Libragender's Alternate Flags; Archive
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 craftgender's Alternate Flags; Archive
- ↑ neopronouns' Alternate Flag; Archive
- ↑ ThePhatnomWUeen's Alternate Flag
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Three Unsourced/Deadlinked Flags
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Pronounflags' Alternate Flags
- ↑ https://pronoun.fandom.com/wiki/Itself?commentId=4400000000000039928