English Dictionary
Definition they in British English
they
pronoun
What are red words?
Around 90% of spoken and written English relies on just 7,500 common words.
These words are highlighted in red and are ranked using a star system.
- One-star words are commonly used
- Two-star words are even more common
- Three-star words are the most frequently used
pronoun
What are red words?
Around 90% of spoken and written English relies on just 7,500 common words.These words are highlighted in red and are ranked using a star system.
- One-star words are commonly used
- Two-star words are even more common
- Three-star words are the most frequently used
They is used as the subject of a verb: They killed him.
In formal English they can also be used after the verb ‘to be’, especially before a relative clause: It is they who are telling lies.
In spoken English, they, them, their, and themselves are used by many people for referring to a person without mentioning whether the person is male or female, especially when referring back to a pronoun such as ‘everyone’ or ‘someone’: What happens if someone changes their mind?
In more formal English, ‘he or she’, ‘him or her’, or ‘himself or herself’ are used instead.
used instead of 'he or she', especially when you are referring back to a word such as 'everyone', 'someone', or 'anyone'
