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Meaning of them | Babel Free

Pronoun masculine CEFR A1 Common
ˈðɛm

Definitions

  1. Those ones.
    in-plural, personal, pronoun, third-person
  2. Used as the direct object of a verb.
    in-plural, personal, pronoun, third-person
  3. plural of él (“they, them”)
  4. Used as the indirect object of a verb.
    in-plural, personal, pronoun, third-person
  5. Like other masculine words, masculine pronouns can be used when the gender of the subject is unknown or when the subject is plural and of mixed gender.
  6. Used as the object of a preposition.
    in-plural, personal, pronoun, third-person
  7. Treated as if it were third person for purposes of conjugation and reflexivity.
  8. As a grammatical subject or object when joined with a conjunction.
    colloquial, in-plural, nonstandard, personal, pronoun, third-person, uncommon
  9. If le or les precedes lo, la, los, or las in a clause, it is replaced with se (e.g. se lo dije instead of *le lo dije).
  10. Used in isolation or apposition, or (sometimes proscribed) as the complement of the copula (be).
    in-plural, personal, pronoun, third-person
  11. Used primarily in Spain.
  12. A single person, previously mentioned, whose gender is unknown, irrelevant, or (since 21st c.) non-binary.
    personal, pronoun, singular, third-person
  13. They or those.
    dialectal, personal, pronoun, third-person

Equivalents

Español ellos

Examples

“She treated them for a cold.”
“Proponents of adding a gender-neutral option to state identification documents say it would remove a form of discrimination against nonbinary people by providing them with the means to carry identification that matches their identity.”
“She wrote them a letter.”
“Give it to them.”
“[...] and now them and the Goo Goo Dolls are playing together.”
“[…]Illinois, told Christina Holmes Tillson (just arrived from Connecticut herself) : “I am getting skeery about them 'ere Yankees. There is such a power of them coming in that them and the Injuns will squatch out [everyone else].”
“Them and the boys went to live with Auntie Madge and Uncle Herbie when Miss Violet died.”
“Who was there? —Them.”
“Who did this? —Them. They did it. (or:) It was them. They did it.)”
“Who did that? —(It was) not them: I was watching them the whole time.”
“If a student has an inappropriate question, whatever you do, do not berate them.”
“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.”
“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.”
“Someone in the crowd around the lifts called sycophantically, ‘Morning, Yaxley!’ Yaxley ignored them.”
“If one of my patients calls, please bring them their dinner.”
“If someone comes and asks for the ticket, just give it to them.”
“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.”
“"[…] he said that everybody was being watched, and if they seen anybody giving Union cards to anybody on Company property, that them and the person receiving the card, they would both be fired.”
“I know it seems unfair, but them's the rules.”
“And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.”

CEFR level

A1
Beginner
This word is part of the CEFR A1 vocabulary — beginner level.
See all A1 English words →

See also

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