papillonjann

[grim siren]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[tawdry bough]

Je n’ai jamais entendu de ce pronom iels.

[sullen reef]

I learned “iel” as the french equivalent to someone in english who uses they/them pronouns and wants to be referred to as non-binary

I’m trying to learn how to use it properly because whenever I write example sentences I write them about my friends, and one of them uses they/them pronouns

[tawdry bough]

Iel est fatigué • e ? 🤔 Pourriez-vous juste utiliser «  il / elle et ils / elles ? »

[unborn escarp]

il/elle/ils/elles are all gendered, which is not what our friend is trying to achieve

[river heath]

French doesn't have a way to be truly gender neutral for people who identify as non-binary, unfortunately

The pronoun iel is absolutely used in LGBT circles, but its adoption outside of that niche is inconsistent and people may be totally confused by the usage. Even for people who do use iel, it's quite difficult to make adjectives agree with the subject and can often be a mouthful.

[unborn escarp]

I usually don't answer neopronoun related questions as I have zero experience on the matter, but as someone who isn't part of LGBT circles, I have never used neuter pronouns nor heard them be used naturally, and asking my enby friends if they would like to be refered to using masculine or feminine pronouns always worked for me. (in French specifically)

[burnt hatch]

this reminds me how i had to teach a trans guy that someone is masculine and a person is feminine

got all in my face for telling someone with me c’est une personne accueillante

thought i was deadgendering

[serene iron]

yeah, coming from the perspective of english, it's hard to realize at first that gender is more grammatical than semantic in French

[clever gyro]

Me and my friends use often iel/iels pronouns and for a group of people of different genders we still use iels as a way to include everyone

[sullen reef]

I’m still learning formal French (still at a highschool level) and still changing elles -> ils with even just a singular masculine subject, would it be more gramatically correct to refer to one feminine person and one gender-neutral person as elles or iels?

[clever gyro]

Since iel/iels are not official pronouns you can do as you wish
For your example you can ask the preferences of the people you're refering to