'em
/əm/
'em pronoun: them (now only in unstressed position).
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Pronoun
'em
- Them (now only in unstressed position).
- Some are become great, ſome atcheeues greatneſſe, and ſome haue greatneſſe thruſt vppon em.c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Toute la Chine eſt diviſée en ſeize Provinces qui valent mieux chacune que de grands Royaumes. Il y en a dix vers le Midi ſçavoir Yunnan , Quanſi, Canton, Fuquiem, Chequiam, Nankin , Kiamſi , Huqüam, Suſcüem & Quicheu.1685 [1658], Pierre Duval, “Aſia”, in Ferrand Spence, transl., Geographia Univerſalis: The Preſent State Of the Whole World: Giving An Account of the ſeveral Religions, Customs, and Riches of each...
Forms of 'em
| alternative form | em |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | hem |
Origin of 'em
From earlier hem, from Middle English hem, from Old English heom (“them”, dative) of hie, originally a dative plural form but in Middle English coming to serve as an accusative plural as well. Cognate with Dutch hun (“them”), German ihnen (“them”). Now often treated as a colloquial apheretic form of them, which however derives from Old Norse rather than Old English.
Words formed from 'em
Phrases with 'em
- put 'em up
- zap 'em up
- at 'em ball
- zap 'em ups
- at 'em balls
- beat 'em ups
- blast 'em up
- blast 'em ups
- get 'em story
- shoot 'em ups
- touch 'em all
- Kick 'em Jenny
21 more phrasesFewer phrases
- Omaha hold 'em
- get 'em stories
- knew how to pick 'em
- know how to pick 'em
- knew when to fold 'em
- know when to fold 'em
- known how to pick 'em
- knows how to pick 'em
- known when to fold 'em
- knows when to fold 'em
- knowing how to pick 'em
- call 'em as one sees 'em
- knowing when to fold 'em
- called 'em as one saw 'em
- calls 'em as one sees 'em
- calling 'em as one sees 'em
- pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap
- treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen
- treat 'em mean to keep 'em keen
- can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em
- you can't live with 'em, you can't live without 'em
Questions about 'em
- What does 'em mean?
- 'em means them (now only in unstressed position).
- What part of speech is 'em?
- 'em is a pronoun.
- How do you pronounce 'em?
- 'em is pronounced /əm/.
Words near 'em in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: 'em (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-'em.ogg.
Cite this entry: “'em.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/%27em. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.