▁they ▁should "). ▁Its ▁use ▁has ▁expanded ▁in ▁recent ▁years ▁due ▁to ▁increasing ▁social ▁recognition ▁of ▁persons ▁who ▁do ▁not ▁identify ▁themselves ▁as ▁male ▁or ▁female . ▁Note ▁that ▁the ▁singular ▁they ▁still ▁uses ▁pl ural ▁verb ▁forms , ▁reflect ing ▁its ▁orig ins . ▁ ▁For ▁n oun s , ▁in ▁general , ▁gender ▁is ▁not ▁decl ined ▁in ▁Modern ▁English , ▁or ▁at ▁best ▁one ▁could ▁argue ▁there ▁are ▁isolated ▁situations ▁certain ▁n oun s ▁may ▁be ▁modified ▁to ▁reflect ▁gender , ▁though ▁not ▁in ▁a ▁system atic ▁fashion . ▁Lo an ▁words ▁from ▁other ▁languages , ▁particularly ▁Latin ▁and ▁the ▁Rom ance ▁languages , ▁often ▁preserve ▁their ▁gender - specific ▁forms ▁in ▁English , ▁e . g . ▁al umn us ▁( mas cul ine ▁singular ) ▁and ▁al um na ▁( f em in ine ▁singular ). ▁Similarly , ▁names ▁borrow ed ▁from ▁other ▁languages ▁show ▁compar able ▁dist in ctions : ▁Andrew ▁and ▁Andrea , ▁Paul ▁and ▁Pa ula , ▁etc . ▁Additionally , ▁suffix es ▁such ▁as ▁- ess , ▁- ette , ▁and ▁- er ▁are ▁sometimes ▁applied ▁to ▁create ▁over t ly ▁gender ed ▁versions ▁of ▁n oun s , ▁with ▁mark ing ▁for ▁femin ine ▁being ▁much ▁more ▁common ▁than ▁mark ing ▁for ▁mascul ine . ▁Many ▁n oun s ▁can ▁actually ▁function ▁as ▁members ▁of ▁two ▁g enders ▁or ▁even ▁all ▁three , ▁and ▁the ▁gender ▁classes ▁of ▁English ▁n oun s ▁are ▁usually ▁determined ▁by ▁their ▁agreement ▁with ▁pron oun s ,