英文單數第三人稱代詞

隨著LGBTQ 運動的發展，近幾年湧現出一批表示性別的單數第三人稱代詞。這些新代詞，尤其是They/Them，零零散散地碰到過多次，但由於平時使用它們的機會極少，還沒有係統地學習和總結過。

冥冥中有種感覺，這世界變化太快，跟不上時代步伐就會落伍。所以，寫這篇短文的目的，就是趁機學習和總結一下這些新生單數第三人稱代詞。希望一勞永逸，從此以後能熟練地掌握它們。即使做不到熟練掌握，也不至於鬧笑話。

人稱代詞分第一人稱、第二人稱和第三人稱。前兩種比較簡單，指我和你，不涉及性別問題。我們簡單提一下這兩種人稱代詞後，重點講單數第三人稱代詞，尤其是表示性別方麵的。

1. 單數第一人稱 （Singular first person pronouns）

單數第一人稱指我/我的/我自己，I/me/my/mine/myself。具體使用，可參見下麵這個例句。

I am a writer and wrote that book myself. Those ideas are mine. Do you like both me and my ideas?

2. 單數第二人稱 （Singular second person pronouns）

單數第二人稱指你/你的/你自己，You/you/your/yours/yourself。下麵這個例句把所有這些都包括進去了。

“You are a writer and wrote that book yourself. Those ideas are yours. I like both you and your ideas.

因為它們不涉及性別問題，第一和第二單數人稱代詞沒有受到任何影響，也沒有任何變化。以前怎樣用，今後放心大膽地繼續用。

單數第三人代詞（Singular third person pronouns）是在談論別人（第三者）時使用的人稱代詞。這是本文關注的問題，也是下麵的名片裏 Gender Pronouns 一欄要填的內容。

毋庸置疑，這一欄目本身也是新生事物。許多人或許從沒有見過，但事實上，許多人，尤其是人事部門主管在發郵件時，署名後也往往附加這一欄目。

問題是，名字後麵的 Gender Pronouns 這一欄目，應該怎麽填？

3. 傳統的單數第三人稱代詞

對絕大多數人來講，答案非常簡單，要麽填寫 “She/Her”，要麽填寫 “He/Him”。在非男即女（binary）的傳統世界裏，隻有兩種性別：男和女，二選一，沒有第三種。

至於在英文裏的具體使用，可參考下麵的兩個例句。這些都非常簡單，也是大家都非常熟悉的用法。

She/Her: “She is a writer and wrote that book herself. Those ideas are hers. I like both her and her ideas.”

He/Him: “He is a writer and wrote that book himself. Those ideas are his. I like both him and his ideas.”

4. 表示性別的單數第三人稱代詞 They/Them

在新湧現的單數第三人稱代詞中，使用頻率最多的毫無疑問是They/Them。至於They/Them到底代表什麽性別，旁人千萬不要自以為是，更不要去亂猜或亂問，反正不是binary。具體使用，請見下麵的例句：

They are a writer and wrote that book themself. Those ideas are theirs. I like both them and their ideas.

這裏，they, themself, theirs, them 及their都是指某一個人，單數第三人稱。注意，跟在They後麵的謂語動詞卻與複數They一致，即 "They are"，而不是 "They is"，否則語法上說不過去。此外，這裏我們通常用 themself, 而不是 themselves。

Merriam-Webster字典對“They" 的 定義裏，新增加了一個條目，專門講解做為單數第三人稱表示性別時的使用，並提供了一個很好的例句。這個例句值得我們好好學習。

—used to refer to a single person whose gender identity is nonbinary.

例句：I knew certain things about … the person I was interviewing.… They had adopted their gender-neutral name a few years ago, when they began to consciously identify as nonbinary—that is, neither male nor female. They were in their late 20s, working as an event planner, applying to graduate school.

5. 單數第三人稱代詞 They/Them的其他用法

需要指出的是，除了特指性別方麵外，they/them做為單數第三人稱代詞，早已普遍使用，並被大部分人所接受。下麵是Merriam-Webster字典對They的定義裏的相關條目：

3 a —used with a singular indefinite pronoun antecedent

例句：No one has to go if they don't want to.  

這一句的傳統寫法是：No one has to go if she or he doesn't want to。這樣寫沒有任何問題，而且依然是正確的表達方法。但這樣寫略顯繁瑣，用 they 代替 she or he 是語言趨向簡單化的結果，並已得到權威字典的認可。

b —used with a singular antecedent to refer to an unknown or unspecified person

例句：An employee with a grievance can file a complaint if they need to. The person who answered the phone said they didn't know where she was.

c —used to refer to a single person whose gender is intentionally not revealed

例句：A student was found with a knife and a BB gun in their backpack Monday, district spokeswoman Renee Murphy confirmed. The student, whose name has not been released, will be disciplined according to district policies, Murphy said. They also face charges from outside law enforcement, she said.

6. 其他單數第三人稱代詞

新出現的代表性別的單數第三人稱代詞令人眼花繚亂。除了They/Them外，還有很多，比如 Ze/Hir 和 Ze/Zir。這裏謹以 Ze/Hir 為例，用下麵的例句來說明其具體使用。

Ze is a writer and wrote that book hirself. Those ideas are hirs. I like both hir and hir ideas.

7. 在性別代詞一欄裏填“No Pronouns-Use My Name”

還有一種特殊情況，即有人在 Gender Pronouns一欄裏填“No Pronouns-Use My Name”。

假定這個人的名字是Sean，在談論Sean時，我們可以這麽寫：

Sean is a writer and wrote that book. Those ideas are Sean's. I like both Sean and Sean's ideas.

 

2022年8月27日