She

The word "she" is a third-person singular pronoun used to talk about a female. When the name of a woman has been the subject, then "she" takes the place of that name, in the text. While "she" is the subject form, the word "her" is the object or possessive form (see table below). The word "she" is used for a woman (or girl) where the word "he" would be used for a man, or "it" for a neutral pronoun.

In 1999, the American Dialect Society chose "she" as the word of the past millennium (1000-year period).[1] The Society noted the word was not used before the year 1000; "she" was first seen in writings from the 12th century, where the word "heo" had been used to mean either the feminine or mixed plural as with "they".

This is usually used to referring to someone female, but that isn't always excactly the case.

Personal pronouns in standard Modern English
Singular Plural
Subject Object Reflexive Possessive
*Adj./Object
Subject Object Reflexive Possessive
Adj./ Object
First I me myself my / mine we us ourselves our / ours
Second you you yourself your / yours you you yourselves your / yours
Third Masculine he him himself his / his they them themselves their / theirs
Feminine she her herself her / hers
Neuter it it itself its / its

* - Possessive forms are also known as "possessive adjectives" rather than pronouns.


References

  1. "1999 Words of the Year, Word of the 1990s, Word of the 20th Century, Word of the Millennium". American Dialect Society. Archived from the original on 2006-06-15. Retrieved 2008-10-20.