He (pronoun)

{{Short description|Masculine third-person, singular personal pronoun in English}} {{Italic title}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Wiktionary|he|him|his|himself}}

In Modern English, '''''he''''' is a singular, masculine, third-person pronoun.

== Morphology == In Standard Modern English, ''he'' has four shapes representing five distinct word forms:<ref name=":14">{{Cite book|last1=Huddleston|first1=Rodney|title=The Cambridge grammar of the English language|last2=Pullum|first2=Geoffrey K.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2002}}</ref>

* ''he'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''him'': the accusative (objective) form (also called the oblique case<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|title=The Cambridge history of the English Language: Volume III 1476–1776|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|editor-last=Lass|editor-first=Roger|location=Cambridge}})</ref>{{rp|146}}) * ''his:'' the dependent and independent genitive (possessive) forms * ''himself'': the reflexive form

==History== {{Further|Old English pronouns|Proto-Germanic pronouns|Proto-Indo-European pronouns}}

Old English had a single third-person pronoun—from the Proto-Germanic demonstrative base {{lang|gem-x-proto|hi}}-, from PIE *''ko''- "this"<ref>{{Cite web|title=it {{!}} Origin and meaning of it by Online Etymology Dictionary|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/it|access-date=2021-03-20|website=www.etymonline.com|language=en}}</ref>—which had a plural and three genders in the singular. The modern pronoun ''it'' developed out of the neuter singular, starting to appear without the ''h'' in the 12th century. ''Her'' developed out of the feminine singular dative and genitive forms, while the other feminine forms and the plural were replaced with other words. The older pronoun had the following forms:

{| class="wikitable" |+Old English, third-person pronoun<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Cambridge history of the English Language: Volume II 1066–1476|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1992|editor-last=Blake|editor-first=Norman|location=Cambridge}}</ref>{{rp|117}} ! ! colspan="3" |Singular ! rowspan="2" |Plural |- ! !Masculine !Neuter !Feminine |- !Nominative |''hē'' |''hit'' |''hēo'' |''hī''(''e'') |- !Accusative |''hine'' |''hit'' |''hīe'' |''hī''(''e'') |- !Dative |''him'' |''him'' |''hire'' |''him'' / ''heom'' |- !Genitive |''his'' |''his'' |''hire'' |''hira'' / ''heora'' |} In the 12th century, ''it'' started to separate and appear without an ''h''. Around the same time, one case was lost, and distinct pronouns started to develop. The ''-self'' forms developed in early Middle English, with ''hine self'' becoming ''himself.''<ref>{{Cite web|title=himself, pron. and n.|url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/87030|website=Oxford English Dictionary}}</ref> By the 15th century, the Middle English forms of ''he'' had solidified into those we use today.<ref name=":0" />{{rp|120}}

== Gender == {{main|Gender neutrality in English}}

''He'' had three genders in Old English, but in Middle English, the neuter and feminine genders split off. Today, ''he'' is the only masculine pronoun in English. In the 18th century, it was suggested as a gender-neutral pronoun, and was thereafter often prescribed in manuals of style and school textbooks until the 1960s.<ref name="oconner">{{cite news|author=O'Conner, Patricia|author2=Kellerman, Stewart|date=21 July 2009|title=On Language - "All-Purpose Pronoun"|newspaper=New York Times Magazine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-onlanguage-t.html|url-status=dead|access-date=7 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530024829/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-onlanguage-t.html?_r=1|archive-date=30 May 2012}}</ref>

== Syntax ==

=== Functions === ''He'' can appear as a subject, object, determiner or predicative complement.<ref name=":14"/> The reflexive form also appears as an adjunct. ''He'' occasionally appears as a modifier in a noun phrase.

* Subject: ''He's there; him being there''; ''his being there''; ''he paid for himself to be there.'' * Object: ''I saw him''; ''I introduced her to him; He saw himself.'' * Predicative complement: ''The only person there was him.'' * Dependent determiner: ''I met his friend.'' * Independent determiner: ''This is his.'' * Adjunct: ''He did it himself.'' * Modifier: ''The he goat was missing.''

=== Dependents === Pronouns rarely take dependents, but it is possible for ''he'' to have many of the same kind of dependents as other noun phrases.

* Relative clause modifier: ''he who arrives late'' * Determiner: A: ''Somebody was here, and he left this''. B: ''I'm that he.'' * Adjective phrase modifier: ''the real him'' * Adverb phrase external modifier: ''Not even him''

== Semantics == ''He''<nowiki/>'s referents are generally limited to individual male persons, excluding the speaker and the addressee. ''He'' is always definite and usually specific.

=== Generic === {{Main|Generic he}} {{See also|Male as norm}} The pronoun ''he'' can be used to refer to an unspecified person, as in ''If you see someone in trouble, help him.'' (See Gender above). However, sometimes this can seem very unnatural, as in these examples:

* ?''When somebody gives birth, it's good for him to have assistance.'' * ?''If either your mother or father would like to discuss it, I'll talk to him.''

The dominant epicene pronoun in modern written British English is 'they'.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Franziska |first1=Moser |last2=Magda |first2=Formanowicz |last3=Sabine |first3=Sczesny |title=Can Gender-Fair Language Reduce Gender Stereotyping and Discrimination? |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |date=2 February 2016 |volume=7 |issue=25 |page=3 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00025|pmid=26869947 |pmc=4735429 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Many style guides now reject the generic 'he'.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Paterson |first=Laura Louise |title=British pronoun use, prescription, and processing: linguistic and social influences affecting 'they' and 'he' |date=2014 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-33272-1 |location=Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York, NY |doi=10.1057/9781137332738 |oclc=891378634}}</ref>

===Deities=== {{Main|Reverential capitalization}} When speaking of God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit, some Christians use the capitalised forms "He", "His" and "Him" in writing, and in some translations of the Bible.{{citation needed|date=December 2024|reason=The linked article (Reverential capitalization) doesn't mention Jesus or the Holy Spirit explicitly.}}

== References == {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * "He", ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'', Fourth edition, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000).

Category:English grammar Category:Modern English personal pronouns Category:Middle English personal pronouns Category:Old English personal pronouns Category:Terms for men