Wiktionary

them

See also: thêm

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English þem, from Old Norse þeim.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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them (third-person, personal pronoun, objective case of they)

  1. (in the plural) Those ones.
    1. Used as the direct object of a verb.
      She treated them for a cold.
    2. Used as the indirect object of a verb.
      She wrote them a letter.
    3. Used as the object of a preposition.
      Give it to them.
  2. (in the singular) A single person, previously mentioned, especially if of unknown or non-binary gender.
    1. Used as the direct object of a verb.
      If a student has an inappropriate question, whatever you do, do not berate them.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 17:2–5:
        If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God, […] [t]hen shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.
      • 2006, St. John Ambulance, First on the Scene: Student Reference Guide, →ISBN, Lesson 2, page 3:
        Place the casualty on their back with feet and legs raised—this is called the shock position. [emphasis in original] Once the casualty is positioned, cover them to preserve body heat, but do not overheat.
      • 2007, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, London: Bloomsbury, 2008, →ISBN, page 270:
        Someone in the crowd around the lifts called sycophantically, ‘Morning, Yaxley!’ Yaxley ignored them.
    2. Used as the indirect object of a verb.
      If one of my patients calls, please bring them their dinner.
    3. Used as the object of a preposition.
      If someone comes and asks for the ticket, just give it to them.
      • 2024 July 2, Rukiye Arslan, Derya Yanık, Raziye Pekşen Akça, “Investigation of Menstrual Hygiene and Self-Care Skills of Adolescent Girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Mother Views”, in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, →DOI:
        Each adolescent girl with ASD has needs specific to her because each of them has variable characteristics and different degrees of sensory and perceptual difficulties.
  3. (informal, in certain phrases, treated as singular) They or those.
    I know it seems unfair, but them's the rules.

Usage notes

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  • Regarding the use of singular them, see they.

Synonyms

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  • dem (nonstandard)
  • em (colloquial)
  • 'em (colloquial)
  • hem (obsolete)
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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

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English personal pronouns

Dialectal and obsolete or archaic forms are in italics.

personal pronoun possessive
pronoun		 possessive
determiner
subjective objective reflexive
first
person		 singular I
me (colloquial)		 me myself
me
mysen		 mine my
mine (before vowels, archaic)
me
plural we us ourselves
ourself
oursen		 ours our
second
person		 singular standard
(historically
formal) 		you you yourself
yoursen		 yours
yourn (obsolete outside dialects)		 your
archaic
(historically
informal) 		thou thee thyself
theeself
thysen		 thine thy
thine (before vowels)
plural standard you
ye (archaic)		 you yourselves yours
yourn (obsolete outside dialects)		 your
colloquial you all
y'all
you guys		 you all
y'all
you guys		 y'allselves y'all's
you guys'
your guys' (proscribed)		 y'all's
your all's (nonstandard)
you guys'
your guys' (proscribed)
informal /
dialectal 		(see list of dialectal forms at you and inflected forms in those entries)
third
person 		singular masculine he him himself
hisself (archaic)
hissen		 his
hisn (obsolete outside dialects)		 his
feminine she her herself
hersen		 hers
hern (obsolete outside dialects)		 her
neuter it
hit		 it
hit		 itself
hitself		 its
his (archaic)		 its
his (archaic)
hits
genderless1 they them themself, themselves theirs their
nonspecific
(formal) 		one one oneself – one's
plural they them
hem, 'em		 themselves
theirsen		 theirs
theirn (obsolete outside dialects)		 their

1 See Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns for attested neopronouns.

Determiner

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them

  1. (dialectal or nonstandard) Those.
    Gimme two of them yellow ones.
    • 1835, John Pendleton Kennedy, Horse Shoe Robinson: A Tale of the Tory Ascendency:
      How would you like a scrummage, Andy, with them Scotchmen that stole your mother's chickens this morning?
    • 1915, C.J. Dennis, The Songs of the Sentimental Bloke, published 1916, page 13:
      The world 'as got me snouted jist a treat; / Crool Forchin's dirty left 'as smote me soul. / An' all them joys o' life I 'eld so sweet / Is up the pole.
    • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
      "I say it's a shame, Silas Linden, the way them children is treated."
    • 1956, Allen Ginsberg, “America”, in Howl and Other Poems (Pocket Poets Series), City Lights Books, →OCLC, page 33:
      America you don’t really want to go to war.
      America it's them bad Russians.
      Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians.
    • 2005, Elmer Kelton, Sons of Texas, Tor/Forge, page 111:
      " […] Them two wild horses ain't fit to ride, and I been wonderin' how I was goin' to get you out of this place before them Spanish maybe circle back and finish the job."
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:them.

Anagrams

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Albanian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-Albanian *θēm-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱens- (“to say, instruct, announce”). Cognate with Sanskrit शास्ति (śā́sti, “to instruct, advise, command”), and Latin cēnseō (“to give an opinion, to judge, guess, reckon”). Potentially a doublet of rrëfej.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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them (aorist thashë, participle thënë)

  1. (transitive) to say

Conjugation

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Standard Albanian conjugation of them (active voice)

  • Show compound tenses:  

participle thënë
gerund duke thënë
infinitive për të thënë
singular plural
1st pers. 2nd pers. 3rd pers. 1st pers. 2nd pers. 3rd pers.
indicative present them thua thotë themi thoni thonë
imperfect thosha thoshe thoshte thoshim thoshit thoshin
aorist thashë the tha thamë thatë thanë
perfect kam thënë ke thënë ka thënë kemi thënë keni thënë kanë thënë
past perfect kisha thënë kishe thënë kishte thënë kishim thënë kishit thënë kishin thënë
aorist II pata thënë pate thënë pati thënë patëm thënë patët thënë patën thënë
future1 do të them do të thuash do të thotë do të themi do të thoni do të thonë
future perfect2 do të kem thënë do të kesh thënë do të ketë thënë do të kemi thënë do të keni thënë do të kenë thënë
subjunctive present të them të thuash të thotë të themi të thoni të thonë
imperfect të thosha të thoshe të thoshte të thoshim të thoshit të thoshin
perfect të kem thënë të kesh thënë të ketë thënë të kemi thënë të keni thënë të kenë thënë
past perfect të kisha thënë të kishe thënë të kishte thënë të kishim thënë të kishit thënë të kishin thënë
conditional1, 2 imperfect do të thosha do të thoshe do të thoshte do të thoshim do të thoshit do të thoshin
past perfect do të kisha thënë do të kishe thënë do të kishte thënë do të kishim thënë do të kishit thënë do të kishin thënë
optative present thënça thënç thëntë thënçim thënçi thënçin
perfect paça thënë paç thënë pastë thënë paçim thënë paçit thënë paçin thënë
admirative present thënkam thënke thënka thënkemi thënkeni thënkan
imperfect thënkësha thënkëshe thënkësh thënkëshim thënkëshit thënkëshin
perfect paskam thënë paske thënë paska thënë paskemi thënë paskeni thënë paskan thënë
past perfect paskësha thënë paskëshe thënë paskësh thënë paskëshim thënë paskëshit thënë paskëshin thënë
imperative present — thuaj — — thoni —
1) indicative future identical with conditional present 2) indicative future perfect identical with conditional perfect

Derived terms

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Further reading

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  • “them”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006
  • FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎[2], 1980
  • Newmark, L. (1999) “them”, in Oxford Albanian-English Dictionary‎[3]

Kalo Finnish Romani

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Noun

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them m

  1. country, state

Derived terms

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References

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  • “them” in Finnish Romani-English Dictionary, ROMLEX – the Romani Lexicon Project, 2000.

Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Pronoun

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them

  1. Alternative spelling of þem (“them”)

Etymology 2

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Determiner

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them

  1. Alternative spelling of þem (“the, that, this”)

Etymology 3

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Noun

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them

  1. Alternative form of tem (“group”)

Etymology 4

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Verb

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them

  1. Alternative form of temen (“to produce offspring”)

Mizo

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Noun

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them

  1. part

Romani

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Etymology

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Several etymologies have been proposed:

Noun

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them m (plural thema)

  1. country, state
  2. area

References

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  1. ^ Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “*sthāmya”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 794
  2. ^ Yaron Matras (2002) “Historical and linguistic origins”, in Romani: A Linguistic Introduction‎[1], Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 28
  3. ^ Boretzky, Norbert, Igla, Birgit (1994) Wörterbuch Romani-Deutsch-Englisch für den südosteuropäischen Raum : mit einer Grammatik der Dialektvarianten [Romani-German-English dictionary for the Southern European region] (in German), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, page 287
  • Yūsuke Sumi (2018) “them, ~a”, in ニューエクスプレスプラス　ロマ（ジプシー）語 [New Express Plus Romani (Gypsy)] (in Japanese), Tokyo: Hakusuisha, published 2021, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 156

Welsh Romani

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Noun

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them m (in the plural thema)

  1. land, country
  2. country (as opposed to town)
  3. earth, world

Derived terms

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References

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  • “them” in Welsh Romani-English Dictionary, ROMLEX – the Romani Lexicon Project, 2000.
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