Gender neutral language in Portuguese

The vast majority of Portuguese words have one of two grammatical genders: the feminine or the masculine. The creation and implementation of gender neutral terms in the Portuguese language aims to make non-binary people feel included. It is important to note that, in Portuguese, there’s a distinction between neutral language and inclusive language. Though the two overlap in some aspects, the latter makes use of already existing binary terms and its main goal is to include both men and women in conversations. It comes as a response to the way Portuguese uses the masculine to encompass the feminine. This can be seen, for example, when groups are referred to with the masculine and plural form of a noun even when they’re not made-up exclusively of men.

This article will focus on neutral Portuguese language.

Third person singular
In Portuguese, there are two standard personal pronoun sets for the third person singular. Ela is equivalent to the English "she" and ele is equivalent to the English "he." Portuguese-speaking non-binary people who don't feel comfortable with either of these have had to come up with their own neopronouns.