Choose li, ŝi, ĝi, ri, si, or tiu by asking what kind of referent you have and what role the form plays. Li/ŝi/ĝi are foundational singular personal pronouns, si is a local third-person reflexive, tiu is a demonstrative correlative, and ri is a nonofficial but attested gender-neutral human pronoun. They are not stylistic variants of one word.
The decision map
| Form | Central use | Status and constraint |
|---|---|---|
| li | one male person | foundational; also traditional generic human use |
| ŝi | one female person | foundational |
| ĝi | one thing, animal, abstraction, or contextually non-personal referent | foundational; adult-human use is socially marked |
| ri | one person without male/female marking | nonofficial, established in parts of modern usage |
| si | the same third-person referent as the local subject | foundational; never itself a subject |
| tiu | that/that one/the person just selected | foundational correlative; demonstrative rather than personal |
A practical flow is:
- Is the form a reflexive object, complement, or possessor of a local third-person subject? Use si/sin/sia.
- Otherwise, is the referent a known singular person? Use li, ŝi, a requested ri, or gender-neutral tiu/a repeated description according to meaning and audience.
- Is it a singular thing, ordinary animal reference, abstraction, or collective treated as a unit? Use ĝi.
- Are you pointing out, selecting, or contrasting an individual? Use tiu, which can be human or nonhuman.
Li and ŝi: a known person with relevant gender
Use li for one male person and ŝi for one female person. Their accusative forms are lin/ŝin and their possessives are lia/ŝia.
Mia frato ĵus telefonis; li alvenos post duonhoro.
My brother just called; he will arrive in half an hour.
La kuracistino ankoraŭ estas kun paciento, sed ŝi baldaŭ ricevos vin.
The doctor is still with a patient, but she will see you soon.
Ĉu vi vidis Leon? — Jes, mi renkontis lin ĉe la haltejo.
Did you see Leo? — Yes, I met him at the bus stop.
Traditional Esperanto also uses li generically when a person’s sex is unknown or irrelevant. That use is foundationally attested, but many modern speakers find it male-biased or ambiguous. It remains grammatical; alternatives include tiu persono, tiu, a repeated role noun, a plural rewrite, or ri in a receptive context.
Ĝi: nonhuman and contextually non-personal reference
Use ĝi/ĝin/ĝia for a known singular object, animal, abstract noun, or institution treated as a unit.
La presilo denove paneis; ĝi bezonas novan parton.
The printer broke down again; it needs a new part.
Birdo sidis sur la fenestrobreto, sed ĝi forflugis kiam mi proksimiĝis.
A bird was sitting on the windowsill, but it flew away when I approached.
For a named companion animal or personified character, li or ŝi is common when sex and personality are relevant. The Fundamento also uses ĝi for a very young child when sex is irrelevant. Adult-human ĝi exists in modern ĝiismo, but it can sound objectifying unless the person explicitly chooses it.
Ĝi requires an antecedent. It is not English dummy “it”:
Pluvas, kaj estas tre malvarme ekstere.
It is raining, and it is very cold outside.
No pronoun appears because neither English “it” refers to an entity.
Ri: singular human reference without binary gender
Ri/rin/ria refers to one person without specifying male or female gender. It may be used for a nonbinary person, for a person whose gender is unknown, or more broadly according to the speaker’s practice.
Alekso petis, ke ni atendu rin; ri alvenos baldaŭ.
Alex asked us to wait for them; they will arrive soon.
La gajninto montru sian bileton kiam ri eniros.
The winner should show their ticket when they enter.
The second sentence uses sian because the winner is the subject of montru, then ri as the subject of a new clause. Ri is morphologically regular but is not part of the Fundamento or official vocabulary. In 2021 the Akademio explicitly took no position on whether nonofficial gender-neutral pronouns should be used.
Use a known person’s requested pronoun. In broad (formal) communication, introduce ri if readers may not know it, or choose a transparent repeated noun. See Ri and Gender-Neutral Reference for the full status discussion.
Si: local reflexive, never a subject
Use si/sin/sia only when a third-person subject reappears in another role within its own clause. Si has no independent gender or number; it inherits both from its antecedent.
Karlo rigardis sin en la spegulo.
Karlo looked at himself in the mirror.
La infanoj prenis siajn jakojn.
The children took their own jackets.
Karlo rigardis lin en la spegulo.
Karlo looked at him—another male person—in the mirror.
The last two forms in the minimal contrast are not interchangeable. Sin forces identity with Karlo; lin excludes Karlo as the object. Likewise siaj jakoj belong to the subject, whereas iliaj jakoj belong to some other known group.
Si cannot introduce or resume a subject:
Karlo diris, ke li venos morgaŭ.
Karlo said that he would come tomorrow.
The embedded clause has its own subject li. Ke si venos is impossible because si would be trying to serve as subject and refer outside its clause.
Tiu: selecting an individual without a personal-pronoun commitment
Tiu means “that one,” “that person,” or “the one just identified.” It is one of the -u correlatives, so it can identify a person or an individually selected thing. It is useful when pointing, contrasting, or resuming an indefinite person without encoding gender.
Du teknikistoj venis; tiu kun la ruĝa sako riparos la enkursigilon.
Two technicians came; the one with the red bag will repair the router.
Se kliento telefonas, tiu povas lasi mesaĝon ĉe la akceptejo.
If a client calls, that person can leave a message at reception.
Mi preferas la pli malgrandan tablon, ĉar tiu taŭgas por la kuirejo.
I prefer the smaller table because that one suits the kitchen.
Unlike a neutral personal pronoun, tiu retains a selecting or demonstrative flavor. Repeating it in every sentence can sound like repeatedly saying “that person.” Once a referent is firmly established, li, ŝi, ĝi, ri, or a repeated noun may flow better.
Its forms follow the correlative system: tiu, tiun, tiuj, tiujn. The possessive correlative is ties “that one’s,” not tiua; ties does not agree. In many sentences de tiu or a clearer noun phrase is preferable.
Possession: ordinary versus reflexive
Possessive choice depends on clause role, not just identity in the real world.
Marta prenis sian mantelon.
Marta took her own coat.
Marta prenis ŝian mantelon.
Marta took her coat—the coat of another woman.
Marta kaj ŝia frato foriris.
Marta and her brother left.
In the third example, ŝia is required because Marta kaj ŝia frato is the whole subject. Sia cannot be part of the subject while pointing to Marta. Possessive lia/ŝia/ĝia/ria/sia agrees with the possessed noun: sian mantelon, siajn mantelojn.
Quick contrasts
| Situation | Best default | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| known man / known woman | li / ŝi | ordinary definite human reference |
| thing or ordinary animal reference | ĝi | nonhuman singular |
| known nonbinary person using ri | ri | requested singular human pronoun |
| local third-person self-reference | si | reflexive dependency |
| selected/contrasted individual | tiu | demonstrative identification |
Common Mistakes
Using si as a subject
❌ Marta diris, ke si estas preta.
Incorrect — si cannot be the subject of the embedded clause.
✅ Marta diris, ke ŝi estas preta.
Marta said that she was ready.
Copying English dummy “it”
❌ Ĝi neĝas hodiaŭ.
Incorrect — ĝi has no referent in a weather statement.
✅ Neĝas hodiaŭ.
It is snowing today.
Treating ri as officially Fundamental
❌ Ri estas oficiala Fundamenta pronomo.
Incorrect — ri is a later, nonofficial pronoun.
✅ Ri estas neoficiala pronomo kun reala moderna uzado.
Ri is a nonofficial pronoun with real modern usage.
Inventing tiua
❌ Mi renkontis tiun homon, sed mi ne konas tiuan nomon.
Incorrect — tiu does not form a possessive in -a.
✅ Mi renkontis tiun homon, sed mi ne konas ties nomon.
I met that person, but I don’t know their name.
Missing the reflexive possessive
❌ La kuracisto prenis lian sakon.
Wrong for the intended meaning ‘his own bag’ — lian points to another man.
✅ La kuracisto prenis sian sakon.
The doctor took his own bag.
Key Takeaways
- Use li/ŝi for a known male/female person, ĝi for ordinary nonhuman singular reference, and tiu to select or point out an individual.
- Ri is singular human and gender-neutral in meaning, but nonofficial and audience-dependent in use.
- Si is not an alternative subject pronoun; it refers back to a local third-person subject.
- Object forms take -n; possessive forms in -a agree with the possessed noun.
- Traditional generic li, modern ri, and neutral rephrasing differ in status and social effect; choose explicitly rather than silently conflating them.
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Start learning Esperanto →Related Topics
- Li and ŜiA2 — Use Esperanto's singular third-person pronouns for male and female people, with clear object, possessive, reflexive, and reference patterns.
- Ĝi for Nonhuman and Contextual ReferenceA2 — Use ĝi, ĝin, and ĝia for singular nonhuman referents while distinguishing noun reference, reflexivity, and clause reference.
- Ri and Gender-Neutral ReferenceB1 — Understand the nonofficial but established pronoun ri, its regular forms, its uses, and audience-sensitive alternatives.
- The Reflexive Pronoun SiA1 — Use si and sin when a third-person subject refers back to itself, and distinguish reflexive reference from ordinary third-person pronouns.
- Tiu: The Demonstrative Individual CorrelativeA2 — Point out particular people or things with tiu, including its determiner, standalone, plural, accusative, and relative-pair uses.
- Tiu or Ĝi?C1 — Use ĝi for neutral continuation of an established singular referent and tiu to select, point out, contrast, or disambiguate an individual.