they
/ˈðeɪ̯/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia[ˈðæ̝ɪ̯]
they pronoun: a group of entities previously mentioned.
Pronoun (1)
they (third-person, nominative case, usually plural, sometimes singular, objective case them, possessive their, possessive noun theirs, reflexive themselves, or reflexive singular themself)
- A group of entities previously mentioned.
- Fred and Jane? They just arrived.
- Dogs may bark if they want to be fed.
- One whose gender is unknown, irrelevant, or both.
- Somebody requested a seat at Friday's performance but didn't say if they preferred the balcony or the floor. [The gender is unknown and irrelevant.]
- I asked my friend if they wanted to come, but they said no. [The gender is known but irrelevant.]
- One who is nonbinary.
- There is no need to panic. Robin should be here soon and they will know what to do. [Robin is nonbinary and uses singular they.]
- The boycott, led by Elisha Lim, of a Toronto gay and lesbian newspaper after it refused to use their preferred pronoun ["they"], citing grammar considerations, inspired me.2014, Ivan E. Coyote, Rae Spoon, Gender Failure, →ISBN
- People; some people; people in general; someone, excluding the speaker.
- They say it’s a good place to live.
- They didn’t have computers in the old days.
- The authorities, the (power) elites, the powers that be, the establishment, the man, the system: government, police, employers, etc.
- They'll tax us for the air we breathe next.
- They should increase our wages.
- The opponents of the side which is keeping score.
- Antonyms:
- we
Determiner
they
- The, those.
- They rooks as you see … only coom a few year agoo.1878, Louis John Jennings, Field Paths and Green Lanes, quoting an old East Sussex man
- Darn'd if they Cockney Chaps can zee there worn't nort but lie in him.1883, Judy, or the London serio-comic journal, volume 33, Harvard University
- Their.
- MARY ELLEN is a different case from the others. She has five children and, she claims: "I don't know who they father is. I ain't never kept track. They is always another one. You know, I can catch me a guy[.]"1974, Arthur Hippler, Hunter's Point: a black ghetto in America, page 88
- It's a shame to see someone talk so bad about the gays and lesbians in prison. She is brainwash to the fact that she think every gay and lesbian in prison is guilty of they crimes.1988 February 7, Mike Riegle, quoting John Royal, “Why Does GCN Have A Prisoner Project?”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 29, page 10
Verb
they (third-person singular simple present theys, present participle theying, simple past and past participle theyed)
- To refer to (someone, sometimes especially someone who does not use gender-neutral pronouns) using they/them pronouns.
- I have a pin that says she/her, but I still get theyed all the time.
Noun
they (plural theys)
- A non-binary person.
Pronoun (2)
they
- There (especially as an expletive subject of be).
- They’s music in the twitter of the bluebird and the jay.1889, James Whitcomb Riley, Pipes o' Pan
- MARY ELLEN is a different case from the others. She has five children and, she claims: "I don't know who they father is. I ain't never kept track. They is always another one. You know, I can catch me a guy[.]"1974, Arthur Hippler, Hunter's Point: a black ghetto in America, page 88
Pronoun (3) capitalized: They
They
- Honorific alternative letter-case form of of they, sometimes used when referring to gods or other important figures who are understood from context.
- Then raising Their hands, each god according to his sign, They made the worlds and the suns, and put a light in the houses of the sky.1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], “Of the Making of the Worlds”, in The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, pages 4–5
- The question arises in a practical way in two possible situations: either ‘here is Mr. A: he wants to do some research and has a grant of so much for X years’: or ‘here is a problem: They (capital T, please) want us to do research about it and are prepared to pay £X over a period of X years’. Of...1975, W[illiam] J[ames] M[illar] Mackenzie, “The Conceptual Framework and the Cash Basis”, in Explorations in Government: Collected Papers: 1951–1968, New York, N.Y.; Toronto, Ont.: Halsted Press...
they meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
they in Hindi
- third-person plural pronoun
- वे ve, ये ye
- third-person singular, of unknown, irrelevant, or non-binary gender
- वह vah, यह yah
they in Tamil
- third-person plural pronoun
- அவர் avar, இவர் ivar
they in Urdu
- third-person plural pronoun
- وہ voh, یہ yeh
- third-person singular, of unknown, irrelevant, or non-binary gender
- وہ voh, یہ yeh
they in Bengali
- third-person plural pronoun
- তারা tara
- third-person singular, of unknown, irrelevant, or non-binary gender
- সে śe
More languagesFewer languages
- they in Telugu
- వారు vāru, వాళ్ళు vāḷḷu
- they in Kannada
- ಇವರು ivaru, ಇವುಗಳು ivugaḷu, ಇವು ivu, ಅವರು avaru
- they in Gujarati
- એવણ evaṇ
- they in Sinhala
- ඔවුහු owuhu, ඔව්හු owhu, ඔවුන් owun, එයාලා eyālā
- they in Assamese
- সিহঁত xihõt, ইহঁত ihõt, তেওঁলোক teü̃lük, এওঁলোক eü̃lük
- they in Pashto
- هغوی hoǧúy, دوی dūy, هغه hağë
- they in Tagalog
- sila, niya, kaniya, siya
- they in Arabic
- هُمَا humā, هُم hum, هُنَّ hunna, هِيَ hiya
- they in Malay
- mereka, dia, ia
- they in Indonesian
- mereka, dia, ia
- they in Persian
- ایشان išân, آنْها ânhâ, آنان ânân, او u
- they in Thai
- เขา kǎo, พวกเขา pûuak-kǎo
- they in Vietnamese
- họ, nó
- they in Myanmar
- သူတို့ sutui., သူများ su-mya:, သူ su
- Dhivehi
- އެ މީހުން e mīhun̊
- Dzongkha
- ཁོང khong, ཕྱོ phyo, ནཱ nā
Examples of they in a sentence
- Plants wilt if they are not watered.
- I have a car and a truck, but they are both broken.
- They built this city on rock and roll.
- They don’t make them like they used to.
- Ha, you believe the moon is real? That's just what they want you to think.
- Then shalt thou bring forth that man, or that woman (which haue committed that wicked thing) vnto thy gates, euen that man, or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones till they die.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 17:5:
Antonyms of they
Forms of they
| Pronoun | |
|---|---|
| objective | them |
| possessive | their |
| noun possessive | theirs |
| reflexive | themselves |
| singular reflexive | themself |
| alternative form | They |
| alternative form | dey |
| alternative form | thay |
| alternative form | theye |
| alternative form | thaay |
| Determiner | |
| alternative form | the |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | theys |
| present participle | theying |
| past participle | theyed |
| past | theyed |
| Noun | |
| plural | theys |
Origin of they
From Middle English þei, borrowed in the 1200s from Old Norse þeir, plural of the demonstrative sá which acted as a plural pronoun. Displaced native Middle English he from Old English hīe — which vowel changes had left indistinct from he (“he”) — by the 1400s, being readily incorporated alongside native words beginning with the same sound (the, that, this). Used as a singular pronoun since 1300, e.g. in the 1325 Cursor Mundi. The Norse term (whence also Icelandic þeir (“they”), Faroese teir (“they”), Danish de (“they”), Swedish de (“they”), Norwegian Nynorsk dei (“they”)) is from Proto-Germanic *þai (“those”) (from Proto-Indo-European *to- (“that”)), whence also Old English þā (“those”) (whence obsolete English tho), Scots thae, thai, thay (“they; those”), Swabian dia (“they”). The origin of the determiner they (“the, those”) is unclear. The OED, English Dialect Dictionary and Middle English Dictionary define it and its Middle English predecessor thei as a demonstrative determiner or adjective meaning “those” or “the”. This could be a continuation of the use of the English pronoun they's Old Norse etymon þeir as a demonstrative meaning “those”, but the OED and EDD say it is...
From earlier the'e, from there.
Words formed from they
- as they come
- as they say
- epicene they
- generic they
- if pigs had wings, they would fly
- it doesn't matter what they say about you as long as they spell your name right
- let the chips fall where they may
- let the dice fall where they may
- that's why they play the game
- theyby
- they don't make them like that anymore
- they don't make them like they used to
- theydy
- theyfab
- theyfriend
- they hate us 'cause they ain't us
- they hit the Pentagon
- theymab
- they say
- they should have sent a poet
- they-uns
- thussy
- will-they-won't-they
Phrases with they
- so they say
- so they said
- so they had said
- will they, won't they
- will they? won't they
- you know what they say
- kings of all they survey
- masters of all they survey
- meet someone where they are
- met someone where they were
- meets someone where they are
- when they go low, we go high
30 more phrasesFewer phrases
- when they go low, we go lower
- hit someone when they are down
- meeting someone where they are
- hit someone when they were down
- hits someone when they are down
- if you build it, they will come
- kick someone when they are down
- kicks someone when they are down
- if pigs had wings, they could fly
- lets the dice fall where they may
- strike someone when they are down
- when they go low, we go submarine
- hitting someone when they are down
- kicked someone when they were down
- kicking someone when they are down
- lets the chips fall where they may
- strikes someone when they are down
- struck someone when they were down
- striking someone when they are down
- letting the dice fall where they may
- letting the chips fall where they may
- don't count your chicks before they hatch
- the bigger they are, the harder they fall
- the bigger they come, the harder they fall
- oh my god, they killed Kenny! you bastards!
- I wouldn't piss on someone if they were on fire
- the more things change, the more they stay the same
- the strong do what they can, the weak suffer what they must
- the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must
- those who will not when they may, when they will they shall have nay
Words that rhyme with they
Questions about they
- What does they mean?
- They means a group of entities previously mentioned.
- What is they in Hindi?
- They in Hindi is वे (ve), ये (ye), वह (vah). See They meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use they in a sentence?
- Plants wilt if they are not watered.
- What part of speech is they?
- They can be a pronoun, a determiner, a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce they?
- They is pronounced /ˈðeɪ̯/ (UK).
Words near they in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: they (page history and authors); They (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-uk-they.ogg, En-us-they.ogg.
Cite this entry: “they.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/they. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.