they

动词 v. 代词 pron. 限定词 det.
中文释义
英 /ˈðeɪ̯/    美 /ˈðeɪ̯/|/ˈðæ̝ɪ̯/

英文释义

动词 v.
  1. To refer to (someone, sometimes especially someone who does not use gender-neutral pronouns) using they/them pronouns. transitive
    — I have a pin that says she/her, but I still get theyed all the time.
代词 pron.
  1. A group of entities previously mentioned. nominative,plural,singular,sometimes,third-person
    — Fred and Jane? They just arrived.
  2. There (especially as an expletive subject of be). US,dialectal
    — They’s music in the twitter of the bluebird and the jay.
  3. A single person, previously mentioned, whose gender is unknown, irrelevant, or (since 20th c.) non-binary. nominative,plural,singular,sometimes,third-person
    — Somebody requested a seat at Friday's performance but didn't say if they preferred the balcony or the floor.
  4. People; some people; people in general; someone, excluding the speaker. indefinite,nominative,plural,pronoun,singular
    — They say it’s a good place to live.
  5. The authorities, the (power) elites, the powers that be, the establishment, the man, the system: government, police, employers, etc. indefinite,nominative,plural,pronoun,singular
    — They'll tax us for the air we breathe next.
  6. The opponents of the side which is keeping score. nominative,plural,singular,sometimes,third-person
限定词 det.
  1. The, those. Southern-England,dialectal,nonstandard
    — They rooks as you see … only coom a few year agoo.
  2. Their. US,dialectal
    — 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[.]"

词形变化

them objective their possessive theirs noun,possessive themselves reflexive themself reflexive,singular They alternative dey alternative thay alternative theye alternative thaay alternative theye alternative the alternative thay alternative thaay alternative theys present,singular,third-person theying participle,present theyed participle,past theyed past

词汇关系

衍生词
as they come as they say 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 theydy theyfab theyfriend they hate us 'cause they ain't us they hit the Pentagon theymab they say they-uns thussy will-they-won't-they
相关词
us versus them Ime me myselfmemysen mine mymineme we us ourselvesourselfoursen oursourn our you yourselfyoursen yoursyourn your thou thee thyselftheeselfthysen thine thythine youye yourselves you ally'all you guys yous y'allselves all yours y'all's you guys' your guys' all your y'all's your all's you guys' your guys' he him himselfhisselfhissen hishisn his she her herselfhersen hershern ithit itselfhitself itshis itshishits them themself themselves theirs their one oneself – one's themhem 'em themselvestheirsen theirstheirn The following table shows a list of English personal pronoun including archaic and dialectal forms. Dialectal and obsolete archaic forms are in italics. 1 See Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns for attested neopronoun. other attested third-person singular pronouns theirselves theirself

词源

词源 1
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *tóy
Proto-Germanic *þai
Proto-Norse *ᚦᚨᛁᛉ (*þaiʀ)
Old Norse þeirbor.
Middle English þei
English 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 limited to southern, especially southwestern, England, specifically outside the region of Norse contact.
词源 2
From earlier the'e, from there.
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