they

Signification (Anglais)

Pron

1. A group of entities previously mentioned.
2. A single person, previously mentioned, but typically not if previously named and identified as male or female, especially if of unknown, irrelevant or (since 21st century) non-binary gender. Now increasingly used for an unnamed person even if the gender of the person is identified.
3. People; some people; people in general; someone, excluding the speaker.
4. The authorities: government, police, employers, etc.
5. The opponents of the side which is keeping score.

Det

1. The, those.
2. Their.

Concepts

ils

elles

eux

on

il

le

lui

ceci et cela

dans toute direction

de tous côtés

ici et là

partout

personnes

tous les gens

tous les messieurs

celles

les

Prononcé comme (IPA)

/ðeɪ/

Étymologie (Anglais)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *tóy
Proto-Germanic *þai
Proto-Norse *ᚦᚨᛁᛉ (*þaiʀ)
Old Norse þeirbor.
Middle English þei
English they
From Middle English þei, borrowed in the 1200s from Old Norse þeir, plural of the demonstrative sá which acted as a plural pronoun. Displaced native Middle English he from Old English hīe — which vowel changes had left indistinct from he (“he”) — by the 1400s, being readily incorporated alongside native words beginning with the same sound (the, that, this). Used as a singular pronoun since 1300, e.g. in the 1325 Cursor Mundi.
The Norse term (whence also Icelandic þeir (“they”), Faroese teir (“they”), Danish de (“they”), Swedish de (“they”), Norwegian Nynorsk dei (“they”)) is from Proto-Germanic *þai (“those”) (from Proto-Indo-European *to- (“that”)), whence also Old English þā (“those”) (whence obsolete English tho), Scots thae, thai, thay (“they; those”).
The origin of the determiner they (“the, those”) is unclear. The OED, English Dialect Dictionary and Middle English Dictionary define it and its Middle English predecessor thei as a demonstrative determiner or adjective meaning "those" or "the". This could be a continuation of the use of the English pronoun they's Old Norse etymon þeir as a demonstrative meaning "those", but the OED and EDD say it is limited to southern, especially southwestern, England, specifically outside the region of Norse contact.

Phrases

Maybe it was because they moved around so much .

C'était peut-être parce qu'ils ont tellement bougé.

They certainly did not waste it either .

Ils ne l'ont certainement pas gaspillé non plus.

They finished fourth out of four teams .

Ils ont terminé quatrième sur quatre équipes.

The boy continued to listen to his heart as they crossed the desert .

Le garçon a continué à écouter son cœur alors qu'ils traversaient le désert.

At the same time , they cannot find an exact definition of what a feeling is .

En même temps, ils ne peuvent pas trouver une définition exacte de ce qu'est un sentiment.

They managed to retain their title .

Ils ont réussi à conserver leur titre.

They usually will die after mating and laying eggs .

Ils mourront généralement après avoir accouplé et pondu les œufs.

The reviews they wrote on the Internet were not quite objective .

Les critiques qu'ils ont écrites sur Internet n'étaient pas tout à fait objectives.