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they

Translation
they
/dhay/, pron. pl., poss. their or theirs, obj. them.
1. nominative plural of he, she, and it.
2. people in general: They say he's rich.
3. (used with an indefinite singular antecedent in place of the definite masculine he or the definite feminine she): Whoever is of voting age, whether they are interested in politics or not, should vote.
[1150-1200; ME < ON their they (r. OE hi(e)); c. OE tha, pl. of thaet THAT]
Usage. Long before the use of generic HE was condemned as sexist, the pronouns THEY, THEIR, and THEM were used in educated speech and in all but the most formal writing to refer to indefinite pronouns and to singular nouns of general personal reference, probably because such nouns are often not felt to be exclusively singular: If anyone calls, tell them I'll be back at six. Everyone began looking for their books at once.
Such use is not a recent development, nor is it a mark of ignorance. Shakespeare, Swift, Shelley, Scott, and Dickens, as well as many other English and American writers, have used THEY and its forms to refer to singular antecedents. Already widespread in the language (though still rejected as ungrammatical by some), this use of THEY, THEIR, and THEM is increasing in all but the most conservatively edited American English. This increased use is at least partly impelled by the desire to avoid the sexist implications of HE as a pronoun of general reference. See also he1.

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Universalium. 2010.

  
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  • they — 1> они (о людях, животных, предметах и т. п.) Ex: they are on the table они на столе Ex: what are they doing? что они делают? Ex: they alone can help us только они могут помочь нам Ex: I like them мне они нравятся Ex: call them позови их Ex:… …   Новый большой англо-русский словарь

  • They — ([th][=a]), pron. pl.; poss. {Theirs}; obj. {Them}. [Icel. [thorn]eir they, properly nom. pl. masc. of s[=a], s[=u], [thorn]at, a demonstrative pronoun, akin to the English definite article, AS. s[=e], se[ o], [eth][ae]t, nom. pl. [eth][=a]. See… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • they — они …   Англо-русский словарь Мюллера

  • They — (IPAEng|ðeɪ) is a third person, personal pronoun (subject case) in Modern English.UsageThe singular they is the use of this pronoun, where they is used as a gender neutral singular rather than plural pronoun. The correctness of this usage is… …   Wikipedia

  • they — pronoun, plural in construction Etymology: Middle English, from Old Norse their, masculine plural demonstrative & personal pronoun; akin to Old English thæt that Date: 13th century 1. a. those ones used as third person pronoun serving as the… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • they — ðeɪ лич. мест. 1) они (о людях, животных, предметах и т. п.) many of them ≈ многие из них both of them ≈ они оба They alone can help us. ≈ Только они могут помочь нам. I like them. ≈ Мне они нравятся. People …   Большой англо-русский и русско-английский словарь

  • they — See: LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY …   Словарь американских идиом

  • they — See: LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY …   Словарь американских идиом

  • They — He He (h[=e]), pron. [nom. {He}; poss. {His} (h[i^]z); obj. {Him} (h[i^]m); pl. nom. {They} ([th][=a]); poss. {Their} or {Theirs} ([th][^a]rz or [th][=a]rz); obj. {Them} ([th][e^]m).] [AS. h[=e], masc., he[ o], fem., hit, neut.; pl. h[=i], or hie …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • They — She She, pron. [sing. nom. {She}; poss. {Her}. or {Hers}; obj. {Her}; pl. nom. {They}; poss. {Their}or {Theirs}; obj. {Them}.] [OE. she, sche, scheo, scho, AS. se[ o], fem. of the definite article, originally a demonstrative pronoun; cf. OS. siu …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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Фильмы

  • They Hide From Vengeance, 1983 — Фильм о военных преступниках, сотрудничавших в немецкими захватчиками и совершивших тяжкие преступления против мирного населения, многие из которых скрываются от возмездия в США и других странах, работают в разведслужбах, на радио "Свобода".
  • A Birch Light (They Are With Me, These Summer Dawns)., 1986 — The poetical story about the shepherd of the state farm “Leninsky Put’” [“Lenin’s Way”] in the Belgorod region, author of six poetical collections, a member of the USSR Writers’ Union V.V. Mikhalev. The film is filled with his poems and reflections.
  • They And We., 1986 — A report film about the work of the Moscow Zoo. Songs are performedby Dasha Oganezova, Fedya Stukov, Pavel Smeyan. Music is performed by the ensemble “Rok-atelie".