ils

Meaning

1. they (male or mixed group)
2. (informal) they (female)

Concepts

they

them

Gender

♂️ Masculine

Pronounced as (IPA)

/il/

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin illī, which sounded il in Old French, to which a plural -s was added. While il was the nominative form from late Latin, els, eus was the oblique form ("them") that had evolved from late Latin illōs, and is the ancestor of modern French eux.
In Old French, "they", being a nominative, was il from late Latin *illi, thus it didn't have the final -s, thus it was il used both for "he" and "they". The -s was added at the end of the 13th century in some regions, at the time the declension system of Old French started to collapse. As a consequence, some oïl languages in France have retained the original Old French il-form, and in some other regions, the ils-form supplanted the older one. Some dialects have even retained both forms depending on the locals.
See cognates in regional languages in France: Angevin, Champenois, Lorrain, and Orléanais is; Bourbonnais-Berrichon ils; Bourguignon âs; Franc-Comtois and Poitevin-Saintongeais és; Gallo i and iz; Norman i and is; Picard is and i; Franco-Provençal ils; Occitan els (Gascon eus); Catalan ells; Corsican elli.

Sentences

Bien au contraire , ils sont fort bons .

On the contrary, they are very good.

Ils vivent dans le sud de Londres avec leurs deux filles Jasmine et Lila.

They live in South London with their two daughters Jasmine and Lila.

Ils furent utilisés pour des fins de communications et de transport de passagers .

They were used for communications and passenger transport purposes.

Face à son refus de les suivre , ils l'exécutèrent.

Faced with his refusal to follow them, they executed him.

Ils inaugurent une occupation qui sera désormais permanente .

They inaugurate an occupation that will now be permanent.

Ils vivent sur la côte pacifique sud-ouest de l'état.

They live on the southwest Pacific coast of the state.

Ils sont interrompus par un coup de fil de Harry annonçant sa venue .

They are interrupted by a phone call from Harry announcing his arrival.

Quand j'ai été au magasin , ils n'avaient pas de pommes .

When I went to the store, they didn't have apples.