The Word "they" is a personal pronoun, a Word that takes the place of a noun for people or things.
The Word or Words that a pronoun replaces is called its antecedent.
Another Word for "they" is the noun, nouns, or pronoun that it is replacing.
The pronoun "they" is a plural pronoun that functions as the subject of a sentence or a clause.
Examples:
The sisters proudly served the dinner that they had prepared.
- The pronoun "they" replaces the noun "sisters" as the subject of the relative clause.
Branches and twigs littered the lawn. They were deposited by the storm.
- The pronoun "they" replaces the nouns "branches and twigs" as the subject of the second sentence.
They are the new neighbors.
- The pronoun "they" takes the place of the noun "neighbors" as the subject of the sentence.
The other pronouns that can take the place of the personal pronoun "they" are:
- them, a personal pronoun that takes the place of a noun, nouns, or pronoun as the object of a verb or a preposition;
- theirs, a possessive pronoun that takes the place of a noun belonging to two or more people or things;
- their, a possessive adjective that takes the place of a possessive noun;
- themselves, a reflexive pronoun that takes the place of a noun, nouns, or pronoun to reflect back to the noun it replaces;
- these, a demonstrative pronoun that takes the place of a noun, nouns, or pronoun for specific people or things indicated near in place or time;
- those, a demonstrative pronoun that takes the place of a noun, nouns, or pronoun for specific people or things indicated far in place or time.
