Subject
fae
Object
faer
Possessive
faer
Possessive (alone)
faers
Reflexive
faerself
Said like: fay / fair / fair / fairz / fair-SELF
Fae is the old word for the fairy folk, and as a pronoun it does the job of he or she. Faer covers him, her and his; faers is the standalone possessive; faerself is the reflexive. The pattern is she/her with a different sound at the front, so if you can say "her coat is hers", you can say "faer coat is faers".
It is newer than most sets on this site and it comes from the internet, not from a book or a newsletter. People who use it often chose it for how it feels rather than how it functions: a little outside, a little wild, deliberately not a person-shaped word. You do not have to like the reason to get the grammar right.
In a sentence
Fae is bringing the cake, so ask faer whether it needs a fridge.
Faer bag is by the door, and the green scarf is faers.
Fae taught faerself the guitar from videos.
How to use them
- Fae takes the singular verb: "fae is", "fae has", "fae does". Treat it exactly like she.
- Faer is both the object and the possessive determiner, the way her is: "I met faer" and "faer bike". Faers is only for the standalone possessive: "the bike is faers".
- Say fae like the fae of folklore, rhyming with day. Faer rhymes with hair. If the person says it differently, copy them.
- The word also means fairy, and some people will react to that. Do not explain or defend the person's choice for them. It is a pronoun; say it and move on.
- Slip, fix, continue: "she, sorry, fae, said it was fine." Then stop talking about it.
Ways to practise
- Rewrite a short message about a friend replacing she/her/hers with fae/faer/faers. Say it out loud. The f at the front feels odd for a day and then does not.
- Practise the two jobs of faer in one sentence: "I gave faer faer coat." It sounds repetitive because her would too. That is the pattern working.
- Use it about a character in a book or a game for a week. Low stakes, nobody watching, plenty of sentences.
Where it came from
The origin isn't reliably recorded. Wiktionary dates the pronoun use to about 2013, Pronouns.page credits a Tumblr user in 2014, and Wikipedia's table of third-person pronouns lists the set without a coiner. Take all three as "early 2010s, online" and nothing firmer than that.
Who uses them
Identities whose pages mention this set. A pronoun never tells you what someone is — this is only where the word turns up.
Questions people ask
How is fae pronounced?
Fae rhymes with day, like the fairy folk. Faer rhymes with hair; faers adds a z sound; faerself is faer plus self. Ask the person if you are unsure, since the spelling gives a couple of options and they will have one.
Is it disrespectful to use a word that means fairy?
Not if it is the word the person asked for. Pronouns borrowed from nouns are older than this one, and the person chose it knowing what it means. Your job is to use it plainly, not to have an opinion about it out loud.