they
part of speech
pronoun (they, them, their, theirs, themselves)
meaning for a pupil
1) They means the people or things already named, more than one. tree →
2) They can mean people in general: «They say it will rain». tree →
3) They can also be used for one person when you do not know or do not say if the person is a boy or a girl. tree →
4) (casual) «They» can mean the people in charge: «They're closing the pool». tree →
5) (casual, nonstandard) «They» is said for «there» or «their» in some speech: «they was», «they got» (UK, US South); «they're» is often typed «there». tree →
6) (formal) Exams avoid «they» and repeat the noun or say «the said persons», «the aforementioned pupils». tree →
sense in the lessons
the people or things just counted; «they» may mean several people together; phrases: «they have in all», «between them», «each of them»; in casual talk «they reckon», «they was» (nonstandard), «y'all» (US South, you all); in rough talk «they're idiots», «they can get lost»; in the exam voice «the said parties», «the aforementioned», «the two persons collectively»
examples
- Tom and Mia have 5 apples each. How many do they have in all? tree →
- They share 12 cookies equally. tree →
- My grandparents live far away, but they visit at Christmas. tree →
- The ducks swam over, and we fed them. tree →
- Someone left their bag on the bus. tree →
- They say the new park opens soon. tree →
- The twins did it all by themselves. tree →
- They reckon the bus'll be 10 minutes late. tree →
- They was gonna come but they never (nonstandard). tree →
- They can sod off, I'm not giving 'em my chips. tree →
- The two pupils, collectively, possess 10 apples. Ascertain the share of each, given equal division. tree →
- They're closing the pool for a week. tree →
- They complain most who suffer least. tree →
note
Forms: they (subject), them (object), their (owner), theirs. Trap: «their», «there» and «they're» sound the same. «N of them» is a part taken from the whole just named. «they» may mean several people together: count each one. «they was» is common in speech but school English says «they were». «collectively» in an exam means all of them together.
In the corpora
- Night shifts mean working through the night and sleeping in the day; nurses, drivers, bakers and warehouse workers often do them.
- Some people go to work ill because they can't afford to lose the pay, which spreads germs to everyone else.
- These things are worrying, but they are almost never anyone's fault at home, and most families get through them.
- Banks pay interest on savings, and they charge interest when you borrow.
- Lending money to friends can cause arguments, so many grown-ups only lend what they could afford to lose.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «they» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.