# Programming verbs for gender-variable characters

**URL:** <https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/programming-verbs-for-gender-variable-characters/75729>\
**Category:** Writing and Content\
**Created:** [March 19, 2020, 6:05am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/programming-verbs-for-gender-variable-characters/75729 "2020-03-19T06:05:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MonkeyLottery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/monkeylottery/32/138005_2.png) [@MonkeyLottery](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/MonkeyLottery)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 6:05am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/programming-verbs-for-gender-variable-characters/75729/1 "2020-03-19T06:05:10Z")

</div>

So I have been working on my game and I came across a serious problem.

One of the characters is a gender variable character and they could either be female or non-binary. My problem is that non-binary pronouns require plural verbs such as “say or walk.” Of course, I could just program in variables but I feel like there’s a far more efficient way to program it.

I have checked out the code of other games such as:

```
@{player_verb says|say} 

```

This may be the solution I have been looking for but what are the rules and is there even a page for a code like this in the wiki?

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**Author:** ![EclecticEccentric](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/eclecticeccentric/32/112816_2.png) [@EclecticEccentric](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/EclecticEccentric)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 6:33am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/programming-verbs-for-gender-variable-characters/75729/2 "2020-03-19T06:33:33Z")

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I believe you’re referencing multireplace, documented [here](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/new-features-in-choicescript-change-text-size-color-hyphen-spacing-variable-replacement/26217).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MonkeyLottery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/monkeylottery/32/138005_2.png) [@MonkeyLottery](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/MonkeyLottery)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 6:36am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/programming-verbs-for-gender-variable-characters/75729/3 "2020-03-19T06:36:08Z")

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Thank you! I appreciate the help!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/lan/32/80851_2.png) [@Lan](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/Lan)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 6:55am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/programming-verbs-for-gender-variable-characters/75729/4 "2020-03-19T06:55:06Z")

</div>

The ChoiceScript Wiki also has an entry on [multireplace](https://choicescriptdev.fandom.com/wiki/Multireplace).

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**Author:** ![Szaal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/szaal/32/112202_2.png) [@Szaal](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/Szaal)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 8:44am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/programming-verbs-for-gender-variable-characters/75729/5 "2020-03-19T08:44:29Z")

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Here’s a bit of insight.

```
*set nb true
@{nb say|says}

```

One question, though, does singular they is treated the same as other singular pronouns? They eats, they kills, they sings.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![EclecticEccentric](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/eclecticeccentric/32/112816_2.png) [@EclecticEccentric](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/EclecticEccentric)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 9:20am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/programming-verbs-for-gender-variable-characters/75729/6 "2020-03-19T09:20:39Z")

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Singular they takes the same grammatical form as plural they, so sentences would go “they drink,” “they code,” “they write,” etc.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MeltingPenguins](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/meltingpenguins/32/255855_2.png) [@MeltingPenguins](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/MeltingPenguins)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 9:57am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/programming-verbs-for-gender-variable-characters/75729/7 "2020-03-19T09:57:44Z")

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Have it that the player can pick if they use singular or plural verbs (I met people using they/them and others with singular verbs) . thus making the code in the end look thus:

```
${they} @{plur say| says}

```

or somesuch

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![EclecticEccentric](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/eclecticeccentric/32/112816_2.png) [@EclecticEccentric](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/EclecticEccentric)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 10:14am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/programming-verbs-for-gender-variable-characters/75729/8 "2020-03-19T10:14:14Z")

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I’ve never encountered the usage of they with a singular verb form, but offering a write-in choice of pronoun and the selection of whether it takes the plural or singular verb is also something I’ve encountered in WIPs before (not sure if in a published game).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sargent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/sargent/32/108433_2.png) [@Sargent](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/Sargent)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/programming-verbs-for-gender-variable-characters/75729/9 "2020-03-19T17:09:51Z")

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For my current project, I’ve created a set of variables for NPCs who may be non-binary, so that I can have sentences like:

```
Darcy frowns at you. "You're wasting your time," ${darcy_he} say${darcy_s}.

```

If Darcy’s pronouns are he or she, then I do the following:

```
*set darcy_s "s"

```

If Darcy’s pronouns are they, then I use

```
*set darcy_s ""

```

I also have darcy\_es (for cases like “she pushes/they push”), darcy\_is, darcy\_has, darcy\_heis (he’s/she’s/they’re), darcy\_hehas (he’s/she’s/they’ve), darcy\_him (him/her/them), darcy\_his (his/her/their), and darcy\_hers (his/hers/theirs).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RileyRock-pen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecc23a/32.png) [@RileyRock-pen](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/RileyRock-pen)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 1:15pm UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/programming-verbs-for-gender-variable-characters/75729/10 "2020-03-25T13:15:13Z")

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> [@Szaal](#):
>
> One question, though, does singular they is treated the same as other singular pronouns? They eats, they kills, they sings.

Here is the current, official guidance by the American Psychological Association on using singular “they” - (primary hints: 1) use plural verbs and 2) “themselves” is used more than “themself” at this time as it relates to reflexive singular pronouns when using “they.”)

[https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar/singular-they](https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar/singular-they)