Meaning & use

they

pronoun·Everyday

A pronoun referring to people or things already mentioned, or to a single person whose gender is unknown or unspecified.

See it in a sentence

The guests arrived early because they wanted to help set up the tables.

Someone left their umbrella here; they must be coming back for it.

A note on using this word

Using they for a single person is standard in modern English when gender is unknown, unspecified, or not relevant.

Words with a similar meaning

themthese people

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “they”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.