Gender Neutrality in Spanish

Quick Answer

Lean about lenguaje inclusivo(gender-neutral language) in Spanish in this article.

Preguntas que este artículo contesta

Which are the Spanish grammatical genders?

What is generic masculine in Spanish?

Which are the Spanish gender-neutral pronouns?

What does elle mean in Spanish?

What does nosotres mean in Spanish?

What does vosotres mean in Spanish?

What does elles mean in Spanish?

Nonbinary

Gender in Spanish Grammar

In español(Spanish) there are two géneros gramaticales(grammatical genders): masculino(masculine) and femenino(feminine). The words that reflect gender are artículos(articles), sustantivos(nouns), pronombres(pronouns), and adjectives(adjectives).

examples
El gato blanco está durmiendo. The male white cat is sleeping.
La gata blanca está sobre la cama. The female white cat is on the bed.

The grammatical gender neutro(neuter), inherited from latín(Latin), was only kept in some words: ello(it), lo(it), esto(this), eso(that), aquello(that), algo(something), and alguien(someone).

Generic Masculine in Spanish

In traditional Spanish grammar, the masculine noun is used to refer to both males and females collectively. This is known as masculino genérico(generic masculine), and its use is endorsed by the RAEor Real Academia de la Lengua Española(the foremost authority on all matters relating to the Spanish language).

Gender	Example	English
only males	los niños están cantando	the boys are singing
only females	las niñas están cantando	the girls are singing
mixed group	los niños están cantando	the children are singing

In the following examples, todos(everyone) refers to both males and females, alumnos(students) refers to both alumnos(male students) and alumnas(female students), and nosotros(we) may refer to a group of males or a mixed group of males and females.

examples
Todos deben usar casco. Everyone must wear a helmet.
Los alumnos deberán realizar dos exámenes. Students must take two exams.
Nosotros somos de México. We’re from Mexico.

Gender-neutral language supporters claim using masculine nouns to refer to both males and females is sexist. They suggest alternatives to solve this issue and make the language more appropriate for non-binary people, and for situations in which we want to avoid mentioning gender, we’re talking about people whose gender we don’t know, or we're talking about a mixed group.

Gender Neutrality in Spanish

Since articles, nouns, pronouns, and adjectives reflect gender in Spanish, and there’s no true neutral grammatical gender in standard usage, the lenguaje inclusivo(gender-neutral language) may not be easy to achieve in Spanish.

Let’s look at some of the ways in which we can attain gender neutrality in Spanish.

Gender-neutral language

Gender-neutral language may also be called lenguaje no sexista, lenguaje de género neutro, and lenguage inclusivoin Spanish.

Using Male and Female Nouns Together

One way to attain gender neutrality in Spanish is to mention the masculine and feminine versions of the noun one after the other, preceded by the definite article el, la, los, las(the) if necessary.

examples
Es gratuito para todos y todas. It’s free for everyone.
Si el alumno o la alumna quiere, puede presentar un ensayo. If the student desires so, they can submit an essay.
Los ciudadanos y las ciudadanas pueden solicitar sus pasaportes en esta oficina. Citizens can apply for a passport at this office.

It’s also possible to omit the first noun when you’re using el, la, los, las.

examples
Luchamos por los derechos de los y las trabajadoras. We stand for workers’ rights.
Los y las candidatas deberán participar en el debate presidencial. Candidates must participate in the presidential debate.

Using e in Articles, Nouns, Pronouns, and Adjectives

Gender neutrality advocates have created new genderless personal pronouns using the letter e to replace o and a in the third person singular, first person plural, second person plural, and third person plural forms.

Personal Pronoun	English	Gender-neutral pronoun
él, ella	he, she	elle(they)
nosotros, nosotras	we	nosotres
vosotros, vosotras	you (plural)	vosotres
ellos, ellas	they	elles

examples
Elle no sabe mi nombre. They don’t know my name.
Esa chaqueta es de elle. That’s their jacket.
Nosotres somos de España. We’re from Spain.
¿Vosotres comen carne? Do you eat meat?

The third person singular and plural objeto directo(direct object) forms lo(him), los(them, masculine) and la(her), las(them, feminine) are changed to leand lesrespectively.

Standard grammar	Gender-neutral language
lo amo(I love him), la amo(I love her)	le amo(I love them)
los amo(I love them), las amo(I love them)	les amo(I love them)

Nouns which refer to people also change the final o and a to e. This applies to plural forms as well. Adjectives follow the same process, and the articles el, la, los, las(the), and un, una(a) are changed to le, les, and uneaccordingly.

examples
Todes vinieron a mi fiesta de cumpleaños. Everyone came to my birthday party.
Le profesore es muy liste. The professor is really smart.
Les niñes juegan al fútbol. The kids are playing soccer.
Elle es une persone generose. They are a generous person.