Iel

iel is a gender-neutral third-person pronoun used in French as an alternative to il and elle. It emerged within Francophone LGBTQIA+ communities and language-advocacy circles as a way to refer to a person without indicating gender. Used mainly as a subject pronoun, as in iel est venu, it has gained visibility through social media, advocacy, and some educational contexts. Because French grammar has long relied on gendered forms, the adoption of iel remains unofficial and varies by speaker, region, and community.

In practice, the use of iel is most established for the subject position. For other grammatical roles, there is no single standardized set of forms, and many speakers opt to rephrase sentences to avoid gendered pronouns or to rely on existing structures (for example, using indirect constructions or plural forms). For plural reference, many writers and speakers use iels as the plural subject pronoun. The broader phenomenon sits within ongoing discussions about écriture inclusive and gender-neutral language in French, where pronouns intersect with determiner and noun gender in writing.

Reception of iel is mixed and context-dependent. Some educators, writers, and institutions incorporate iel into inclusive language policies or guidelines, while others—drawing on the normative stance of authorities like the Académie Française—remain skeptical or omit nonstandard pronouns from official usage. Proponents argue that iel enhances visibility and equality for nonbinary people; critics contend that it complicates grammar and standard French conventions. The concept of iel continues to be part of broader debates about gender, language, and social change in French-speaking communities.