themselves

English

Pronunciation

IPA: /ðɛmˈsɛlvz/, /ðəmˈsɛlvz/, X-SAMPA: /DEm"sElvz/, /D@m"sElvz/
Audio (US)
(file)
Hyphenation: them‧selves

Pronoun

themselves personal pronoun

(the reflexive case of they, the third-person plural personal pronoun) The people previously mentioned, as the object of a verb or following a preposition, where the people are also the subject of the verb; also used for emphasis.
(reflexively): They’ve hurt themselves.

(after a preposition): They fought among themselves.

(for emphasis): They are going to try climbing Mount Everest themselves.
The person of unspecified gender previously mentioned, as the object of a verb or following a preposition, where the person is also the subject of the verb; also used for emphasis.
- 1611, King James Bible, Philippians 2.3:
  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
(reflexively): Would whoever stole my phone please make themselves known.

(after a preposition): They’ve brought this on themselves.

(for emphasis): The children did this themselves.

Usage notes

For notes on the usage referring to a person of unspecified gender, see the usage notes for they.

Synonyms

(non-gender-specific, singular): themself
(gender-specific, singular): himself, herself

Number	Person	Gender	Subject	Objective	Reflexive	Possessive adjective	Possessive pronoun
Singular	First	—	I	me	myself	my	mine
Second	—	you, thou (archaic)	you, thee (archaic)	yourself, thyself (archaic) theeself (archaic)	your, thy (archaic)	yours, thine (archaic)
Third	Masculine	he	him	himself	his
Feminine	she	her	herself	her	hers
Neuter	it	itself	its	its (rare)
Gender-neutral	they	them	themself	their	theirs
Plural	First	—	we	us	ourselves	our	ours
Second	—	you, ye (archaic)	you	yourselves	your	yours
Third	—	they	them	themselves	their	theirs
Indefinite	Third	—	one	oneself	one's	—

Translations

the reflexive case of they, the third-person plural personal pronoun

Catalan: es (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 他們自己, 他们自己 (tāmen zìjǐ)
Finnish: itsensä, itseään; keskenään; itse
French: (reflexive) se (fr), (for emphasis) eux-mêmes (fr) m, (for emphasis) elles-mêmes (fr)

Hungarian: maguk (hu), magukat (hu)
Japanese: 彼ら自身 (ja) (karera-jishin)
Latin: ipsi (la)
Russian: себя (ru) (s'eb'á)
Spanish: ellos mismos (es)

the persons of unspecified gender previously mentioned, as the object of a verb or following a preposition

Catalan: mateixos (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 他們自己, 他们自己 (tāmen zìjǐ)
Finnish: itsensä, itseään; itselleen; itse
Hungarian: önmaguk (hu), önmagukat (hu)

Japanese: 彼ら自身 (ja) (karera-jishin)
Latin: ipsos (la) m, ipsas (la) f, ipsa (la) n
Russian: себя (ru) (s'eb'á)
Volapük: okis (vo)

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