Display & Stringification

Once pronoun data is structured, it needs to be displayed back or used in text. Canonical stringification converts structured pronoun data back into a consistent, human-readable string.

The normative display requirements are listed under Conformance.

Display contexts

• Short display (profile / UI). Beside a name, show a short indicator — subjective and objective separated by a slash (e.g. “she/her”, “they/them”). For multiple sets, separate with a comma or ampersand (“she/her, they/them”), using the subjective form as the representative. Special preferences display as their phrases (“Any pronouns”, “Ask me”, “No pronouns”). Capitalize consistently; capitalizing each pronoun (e.g. “She/Her”, as LinkedIn does) reads clearly.

• Full display (detailed view / accessibility). A detailed profile or first-use context may show more forms to educate readers. The recommended canonical string for a single set is the triple subjective/objective/possessive pronoun (e.g. “she/her/hers”, “they/them/theirs” — including “theirs” distinguishes it from the possessive adjective “their”). Including the reflexive is usually unnecessary in everyday UI, but the data is available (e.g. in a tooltip or accessible description) when needed.

• Multiple sets. For someone with two sets, a canonical display might be “She/Her, They/Them”. Shorthand like “She/They” can confuse readers unfamiliar with the convention, so spell sets out in explanatory contexts (“She/Her and They/Them”). Use a comma or slash for compact labels and “and” for prose.

• No pronouns. Display “No pronouns (use name)” or a phrasing the user provided or chose, signaling that the person should be referred to by name.

• Unspecified. When the preference is unspecified (asked but no usable set given), display a neutral label such as “Unspecified” or “Prefer not to say”. Do not infer a set, and for usage fall back to the person’s name — the same as a blank field, but with an explicit label available since the user did respond.

Excluded sets

A set marked exclude: true records a pronoun the user does not want used. It MUST NOT be presented as a usable pronoun. In short displays, omit excluded sets entirely (show only the positive sets). In a detailed view, an excluded set MAY be surfaced for clarity, marked as excluded — e.g. “He/Him, She/Her (not They/Them)”. Never use an excluded set when constructing sentences.

• Usage guidance. In environments where neopronouns or pronoun-sharing may be unfamiliar, offer a help link or tooltip — e.g. an info icon reading “These are the pronouns $Name goes by. Please use them when referring to $Name.”

• Contextual information. When a context field is present, show it in parentheses after the set (“he/him (in professional contexts)”) or in distinct styling near the pronoun set.

• Capitalization in sentences. When building sentences from pronoun data, ensure proper capitalization at sentence starts. The reference library can provide a helper (e.g. formatPronounInContext(pronoun, case)); otherwise developers should uppercase the first character where needed, to avoid sentences that begin with a lowercase pronoun.

Canonical string summary

• Single set (short): she/her (or She/Her in display).
• Single set (expanded): she/her/hers.
• Multiple sets: she/her, they/them (ordered by rank first, then array order).
• With contextual/privacy/language info: he/him (in professional contexts), they/them.
• Special cases: Any pronouns, Ask me my pronouns, No pronouns (use name), Unspecified.

UI strings (such as “No pronouns (use name)”) should be localized if the application supports multiple languages; the pronoun words themselves generally stay in the language of usage. Apps that operate primarily in another language may allow entering that language’s pronouns, which is where the lang field helps, though deep multi-locale support is initially out of scope. See Internationalization and Localization.