# Have you ever used "naïf" as a pronoun in speech? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 7, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-naif-as-a-pronoun-in-speech/751403 "2016-04-07T01:58:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-naif-as-a-pronoun-in-speech/751403/1 "2016-04-07T01:58:57Z")
I’ve read articles and stories where someone is described as “a naif” but oddly I’ve only seem the use of “naïf” as quoted below in written form I have never heard it used to describe a person when used in everyday speech[as quoted below.](http://www.britannica.com/biography/Diane-Keaton) > [@](#): > > She had the lead role in Woody Allen’s Broadway play Play It Again, Sam (1969), which she later reprised for the 1972 film version. Keaton made her motion-picture debut in Lovers and Other Strangers (1970); her character, a young naïf divorcing her husband because his hair no longer smells like raisins, established a comic persona that would sustain her early career. [I naif /naɪˈif/ /nɑˈif/ (also naïf)](http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/2553/na%C3%AFve-na%C3%AFf-na%C3%AFvety-na%C3%AFvet%C3%A9) adjective naive or ingenuous. noun a naive or ingenuous person. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-naif-as-a-pronoun-in-speech/751403/2 "2016-04-07T02:12:05Z")
that’s not a pronoun. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-naif-as-a-pronoun-in-speech/751403/3 "2016-04-07T02:16:26Z")
I think what you’re looking for is “substantive adjective.” It’s not replacing the noun; it’s just that the noun {man; person} is elided. Edit: and Keaton should be “a young naïve,” rather than “naïf,” shouldn’t she? Double-edit: checking this in French, “une jeune naïve” brings up a looooot of porn. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-naif-as-a-pronoun-in-speech/751403/4 "2016-04-07T02:29:48Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > that’s not a pronoun. Yeah… I realized that a few seconds too late. Check twice, post once. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-naif-as-a-pronoun-in-speech/751403/5 "2016-04-08T15:22:08Z")
I never use words that require umlauts or other weird, un-American symbols. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-naif-as-a-pronoun-in-speech/751403/6 "2016-04-08T15:31:42Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I never use words that require umlauts or other weird, un-American symbols. I, on the other hand, add superfluous umläüts where they do not belonß. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-naif-as-a-pronoun-in-speech/751403/7 "2016-04-08T21:32:33Z")
Being the dope and all, I have to chime in to say it’s not an umlaut. It’s a diaresis: two dots placed over a vowel which follows another vowel, to indicate they are each pronounced. Naif would be one syllable, naïf has two. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-naif-as-a-pronoun-in-speech/751403/8 "2016-04-08T22:06:02Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Yeah… I realized that a few seconds too late. Check twice, post once. Ah, pronoun trouble! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-naif-as-a-pronoun-in-speech/751403/9 "2016-04-08T22:07:27Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I, on the other hand, add superfluous umläüts where they do not belonß. [That’s so metal of you.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_umlaut) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-naif-as-a-pronoun-in-speech/751403/10 "2016-04-09T06:09:52Z")
I’d be a lot more likely use “ingenue” in speech than “naïf”, yes. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-naif-as-a-pronoun-in-speech/751403/11 "2016-04-09T06:43:32Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I’d be a lot more likely use “ingenue” in speech than “naïf”, yes. I would, too. I can believe how people are butchering the English language. A propos of the OP’s title: I really thought the thread was going to be about something like the way some people use “dude” as a pronoun. E.g., “A strange guy started talking to me on the subway today. Dude was crazy!” ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-naif-as-a-pronoun-in-speech/751403/12 "2016-04-09T07:34:47Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > that’s not a pronoun. That’s not a _naïf_. _This_ is a _naïf_.