A pronoun like he or she might refer to dozens of different people, just in

These days new pronouns are gaining recognition in many languages. Some are old pronouns being used in new ways, like “they” in English or “die” in Dutch. Others are totally new, like “iel” in French. But how do new pronouns “happen” and what are their effects? To answer these questions, we turn to Swedish, a language that gained an official new pronoun over a decade ago. Let’s unpack what Swedes were thinking when they added the little word “hen” to their vocabulary and see where they’re at now.

Why are so many people these days talking about pronouns? What do they have to do with gender? How do you know what the correct pronouns are for something or someone? Let’s unpack what pronouns are and how their gender gets tricky.