They
They (Template:Pron-en) is a third-person, personal pronoun (subject case) in Modern English.
Template:Modern English personal pronouns (table)
Usage
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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
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2009) |
| Person / gender | Subject | Object | Possessive determiner | Possessive pronoun | Reflexive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | ||||||
| First | ic / ich / I I |
me / mi me |
min / minen [pl.] my |
min / mire / minre mine |
min one / mi seluen myself | |
| Second | þou / þu / tu / þeou you (thou) |
þe you (thee) |
þi / ti your (thy) |
þin / þyn yours (thine) |
þeself / þi seluen yourself (thyself) | |
| Third | Masculine | he he |
him[a] / hine[b] him |
his / hisse / hes his |
his / hisse his |
him-seluen himself |
| Feminine | sche[o] / s[c]ho / ȝho she |
heo / his / hie / hies / hire her |
hio / heo / hire / heore her |
- hers |
heo-seolf herself | |
| Neuter | hit it |
hit / him it |
his its |
his its |
hit sulue itself | |
| Plural | ||||||
| First | we we |
us / ous us |
ure[n] / our[e] / ures / urne our |
oures ours |
us self / ous silue ourselves | |
| Second | ȝe / ye you (ye) |
eow / [ȝ]ou / ȝow / gu / you you |
eower / [ȝ]ower / gur / [e]our your |
youres yours |
Ȝou self / ou selue yourselves | |
| Third | From Old English | heo / he | his / heo[m] | heore / her | - | - |
| From Old Norse | þa / þei / þeo / þo | þem / þo | þeir | - | þam-selue | |
| modern | they | them | their | theirs | themselves | |
See also
- English personal pronouns
- Generic antecedents
- Objective pronoun
- Possessive pronoun
- Subjective pronoun
- Them
References
- ^ All-Purpose Pronoun, Patricia T. O’Conner and Steward Kellerman
- ^ Dictionary.com definition: "they"; see usage note.
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