they
they (t̸hā)
- the persons, animals, or things previously mentioned: personal pronoun in the third person plural: they is the nominative form, them the objective, theirs the possessive, and themselves the reflexive and intensive; their is the possessive pronominal adjective
- people they say it's so
- the person or group just mentioned: used sometimes as a generic form with a collective antecedent such as everyone, somebody, or no one to avoid the masculine implications of generic he everyone thinks they are right about this issue
Etymology: ME thei < ON thei-r, nom. masc. pl. of the demonstrative pron.; like their & them (ME theim), also < the ON demonstrative forms, thei replaced earlier ME he (hi) because the native pronouns were phonetically confused with the forms of the pers. pron. (ME he, hire, hem, him, etc.): cf. their, them, she
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
| Topic | Replies | Latest Post |
|---|---|---|
| I'd rather they didn't know | 13 | -49 minutes ago |
| 'they are some' | 18 | 1 month ago |
| They're better together... | 6 | 1 year ago |
| Get them off, whatever they are called. | 107 | 3 years ago |
| where have they gone? | 2 | 4 years ago |
See all 8 discussions · Browse Forums
Share on Facebook