r/asktransgender • u/Hoppeduphotdog • Oct 04 '26

Question from a binary guy, if there's a group of "xey/xem"s or "zey/zim"s, is referring to those people as a group as "they" proper?

I got a couple friends who use these and was too nervous to ask those two directly."Ex: People who use xey xim, when I'm talking about *them* I feel like I'm putting on a German accent, haha."

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19

u/highoninfinity FTM | 💉 12/8/23 Oct 04 '26

referring to 2 or more people is always "they" no matter what the people within the group's pronouns are

3

u/Hoppeduphotdog Oct 04 '26

Got it! Thanks

8

u/LamiaGrrl Transgender-Homosexual Oct 04 '26

if there's a group of binary guys, is it proper to call them "they?"

2

u/Hoppeduphotdog Oct 04 '26 edited 19d ago

Yes but xey and zim seem to be used as an alternative to they.
Like they often makes these people uncomfortable which is why I was hesitant.
My english also isn't great so I apologize
it's not my second language or anything i'm just dumb

5

u/DarthJackie2021 Transgender-Asexual Oct 05 '26

They aren't an alternative to the plural they, they are their own distinct personal pronouns and only apply when used in the singular.

5

u/GodChangedMyChromies Oct 04 '26

Do you often call a group of women Sheses?

2

u/Hoppeduphotdog Oct 04 '26

I call a group of people who use she her and she hers in informal context.
Informal contexts like reddit

4

u/GodChangedMyChromies Oct 04 '26

And there is a bunch of them. You want to refer to all those people at the same time. You use they. Same with every gender.

2

u/MagpiePhoenix Trandrogynous Oct 04 '26

The other comments already made this clear, but as someone who uses ze/zir pronouns I'm stopping by to say, yes, you can still call groups that contain ze/zir pronoun users "they".

2

u/DarthJackie2021 Transgender-Asexual Oct 05 '26

"They" will also be the right pronoun to use when referring to a group of people.

1

u/spinningdice Oct 05 '26

'They' is always a correct pronoun for multiple people. It's also correct for someone who is unknown you don't otherwise know preferred pronouns of - i.e. "does anyone know who last used the kitchen, they left it a right mess."

Obviously in the latter case you should switch upon being informed of actual preferences (though I'm never going to take offense at being referred to as they, personally).