they
pronoun
uk/ðeɪ/us/ðeɪ/A1
used as thesubjectof averbto refer topeople,animals, or things alreadymentionedor, moregenerally, to agroupofpeoplenotclearlydescribed:
（作主语）他们，她们，它们I'veknownthe Browns for alongtime. They're verynicepeople.我认识布朗一家已经很久了。他们都很友善。
Where are myglasses? They were on thetableaminuteago.我的眼镜哪儿去了？刚才还在桌子上。
They(=peoplewhoknow)say things will bebetterin the newyear.他们说新的一年里情况会好转的。
B1
used to refer to apersonwhosegenderis notknownor does not need to bementioned:
"There's someone on thephonefor you." "What do theywant?"“有人给你打电话。”“他／她有什么事？”
Everyone should do what theythinkisbest.
used to refer to asinglepersonwhosegenderis notsimplymaleorfemale:
At thattimeSmith said that theywantedto beopenabouttheirnewidentity, but weren'treadytospeakatlengthabout it.
Thesingercame out as non-binary,joiningagrowingnumberofpeoplewho use "they/them" aspronouns.
- Myparentslivedown in Florida, but they come up to Chicago everysummer.
- "Thank you for theflowers." "It's allright. Ithoughtthey mightcheeryou up."
- Anambulancecrewwas called to hishome, but he wasdeadby thetimetheyarrived.
- Mostchildrenin the UKremaininfull-timeeducationuntil they are at least 16yearsold.
- Oil andwaterdon'tmix. Even if youshakethem together theyseparateinto twolayers.
Linguistics: personal pronouns
- 'em
- he
- her
- I, i
- it
- number one
- personally
- S, s
- s/he
- she
- thee
- them
- themself
- thou
- us
- y'all
- you
- you-all
- yours trulyidiom
- yous
Grammar
Pronouns: personal (I, me,you,him,it,they, etc.)
We use personal pronouns in place of noun phrases. We often use them to refer back to people and things that we have already identified (underlined):…Subject and object pronouns
Personal subject pronouns act as the subject of a clause. We use them before a verb to show who is doing the verb. We do not usually leave out the pronoun:…I,me
We use I and me to refer to the speaker or writer. I is the subject form and me is the object form:…You
We use you to refer to the listener or reader. It is both the subject and the object form. You can refer to one person or more than one person. It is usually clear from the context whether you is singular or plural:…He,him;she,her
He, him, she and her are singular third person pronouns. He and him are the masculine forms. She and her are the feminine forms:…It
We use it to refer to things:…We,us
We use we and us to refer to different groups of people, but always including the speaker. We and us can refer to the speaker + the listener, or the speaker + other people but not the listener, or people in general including the speaker:…They,them
We use they and them to refer to specific groups of people, things and animals:…Pronouns:one,you,we,they
One, you, we and they are generic personal pronouns. We can use one, you, we and they to refer to ‘people in general’.…One,youandwe
We can use one, you or we when we are making generalisations and not referring to any one person in particular. When used like this, one, you and we can include the speaker or writer:…They
We can use they to talk about a wide group of people, such as an authority or an institution. In such cases, they does not refer to specific people:…