What is a synonym for vis?
Vis is a pronoun that can serve the same grammatical function as
his or
her (as in
That is vis book) OR
his or
hers (as in
That book is vis), except that it’s gender-neutral.
Vis is typically used by people who identify as
nonbinary or
genderqueer, meaning that their gender identify falls outside of the strict binary of only male or only female. For those who identify in one of these ways and who are deciding which pronouns to use, there are a lot of options. A pronoun similar in function to
vis is
xis. Both can be used in ways equivalent to both nonbinary
them and nonbinary
their. However, it should be noted that these shouldn’t be considered synonyms of
vis in the sense that they are interchangeable when referring to the same person—the pronouns the person has specified are the ones that should be used.
Vis is often used as part of the
ve/ver/vis set of pronouns, but it may be used as part of other, similar sets, such as
ve/vir/vis. In the next section, we’ll break down some of the nonbinary pronoun sets that people use.
What can you use instead of the word vis?
First and foremost: if someone says they use
vis as one of their pronouns, that’s what you should use when referring to them. Some people might use a mix of pronouns, such as
vis and
their/theirs, in which case you can use either one, or both at different times. There are a lot of different nonbinary pronouns, and it can seem overwhelming. To help, here is a chart of some (not all) nonbinary pronouns, along with the grammatical function of each one to help you understand how they’re used (and
conjugated). You can plug each set into this sentence to see how each pronoun is used:
[Column 1 subject form] told me to text [column 2 object form], but I don’t have [column 3 possessive form] number.
| subject form (same grammatical function as he, she, and nonbinary they) |
object form (same grammatical function as him, her, and nonbinary them) |
possessive adjective form (same grammatical function as his, her, and nonbinary their) |
| ve |
ver |
vis |
| ve |
vir |
vis |
| ve |
vir |
vir |
| xe |
xem |
xyr |
| xe |
xim |
xis |
| xe |
xir |
xir |
| xe |
hir |
hir |
| xie |
xem |
xyr |
| ze |
zir |
zir |
| ze |
zan |
zan |
| zie |
zir |
zir |
| zhe |
zhim |
zhir |
| sie |
sier |
sier |
In many (but not all) cases, the possessive pronoun form (the one equivalent to
theirs, as in
That book is theirs) is simply formed by adding -
s to the possessive adjective form (the one that’s equivalent to
their). Sometimes, it’s the same as the possessive adjective form, as in
That is vis book and
That book is vis. The
reflexive form (the one equivalent to
themself) is often formed by simply adding
-self to the object form (the one that’s equivalent to them):
verself.
What kind of pronoun is vis?
