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Look up they, them, their, or theirs in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
They (pronounced /ðeɪ/) is a third-person, personal pronoun (subject case) in Modern English.
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Object | Reflexive | Subject | Object | Reflexive | ||
| First | I | me | myself | we | us | ourselves | |
| Second | you | you | yourself | you | you | yourselves | |
| Third | Masculine | he | him | himself | they | them | themselves |
| Feminine | she | her | herself | ||||
| Neuter | it | it | itself | ||||
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Usage
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This section requires expansion. |
The "singular" they is the use of this pronoun, where they is used as a gender-neutral singular rather than plural pronoun. The correctness of this usage is disputed. [1][2]
The singular pronoun they is even found in formal or official texts. For example, a 2008 amendment to the Canadian Criminal Code contains the following text:
if a peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that, because of their physical condition, a person may be incapable of providing a breath sample... (subparagraph 254(3)(a)(ii))
Which contrasts, for example, with subsection 252(2):
...evidence that an accused failed to stop his vehicle... and give his name and address is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof of an intent to escape civil or criminal liability.
Etymology
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This section requires expansion. |
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Object | Possessive | Subject | Object | Possessive | ||
| First | I | me | mi(n) | we | us | ure | |
| Second | thou | thee | thy | ye | you | your | |
| Third | Impersonal | hit | it/him | his | he they |
hem them |
hir their |
| Masculine | he | him | his | ||||
| Feminine | sche | hire | hir | ||||
They "The People"
Taken from "You know what "they" say..."
- "They" refers to the masses of those who are among the pop culture. "They" quote sayings of individuals who could put complex events into understandable context; believing that what "they" have just quoted would justify an event or action which had just occurred.[citation needed]
- "They" may also refer to the government, the powers that be, or society at large.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ All-Purpose Pronoun, Patricia T. O’Conner and Steward Kellerman
- ^ Dictionary.com definition: "they"; see usage note.
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