they/them (pronoun)
- pronoun
- /ðeɪ ðɛm/
- If someone is in trouble, you should help them as best as you can.
Examples
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When a friend is feeling down, they often appreciate a kind gesture.
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Think they just completed their annual rotation too.
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Tell them they can have it if they give us their 6:00 p.m. time slot.
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I think they're off their routine.
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They've got their own competitive streak!
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And I know they're just doing their jobs, but a personal attack is still a personal attack and kind of sucks to have to listen to.
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We tolerate Islam in our land, but they revile us in theirs.
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But what they don't know they don't tell their troop leader.
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And if Solstein Donagan, if they step out of line, if they don't fulfill their promises, then I will smack them back into shape.
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They don't even realize that when they're talking about their forefathers, they're really talking about the people who did this and came over.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A word used instead of him or her to talk about a person without saying gender
1
1.0
Used to talk about people, animals or things, and about one person when gender is not known
A pronoun used instead of 'he' or 'she' to avoid saying a person's gender
Surface Forms
Morphology
they/them + (pronoun)
The lexical items 'they/them' and the label 'pronoun' clearly signal reference to people, so part of the meaning is transparent; however, the specific modern usage as a gender-neutral singular requires pragmatic and sociolinguistic knowledge (and contradicts many learners' mapping of they/them as strictly plural). This makes the sense partially predictable from the parts but not fully derivable without prior exposure or explanation.
Etymology
The pronouns they/them (pronoun) have been used in English for a long time to mean a single person when you do not know their gender. Instead of saying 'he or she', people say they, and today many people also use they/them for someone who is not only a man or a woman, so the singular use helps show respect.