• pron. 他們；它們；她們

來自中古英語 they,thei,來自古諾斯語 their,來自 Proto-Germanic*thai,復(fù)數(shù)指示代詞，那些的， 來自 PIE*to,指示代詞，詞源同 this,that.

they

they: [12] Like their and them, they was borrowed from Old Norse. Its source was their, the plural form of the demonstrative adjective sá, and it replaced the native Old English pronoun hīe.
=> their, them

they (pron.)

c. 1200, from a Scandinavian source (Old Norse teir, Old Danish, Old Swedish ter, tair), originally masculine plural demonstrative pronoun, from Proto-Germanic *thai, nominative plural pronoun, from PIE *to-, demonstrative pronoun (see that). Gradually replaced Old English hi, hie, plurals of he, heo "she," hit "it" by c. 1400. Colloquial use for "anonymous people in authority" is attested from 1886. They say for "it is said" is in Milton.

The most important importation of this kind [from Scandinavian to English] was that of the pronomial forms they, them and their, which entered readily into the system of English pronouns beginning with the same sound (the, that, this) and were felt to be more distinct than the old native forms which they supplanted. Indeed these were liable to constant confusion with some forms of the singular number (he, him, her) after the vowels has become obscured, so that he and hie, him and heom, her (hire) and heora could no longer be kept easily apart. [Jespersen, "Growth and Structure of the English Language"]

1. They have maintained their optimism in the face of desolating subjugation.

面對遭征服的悲慘命運(yùn)，他們保持了樂觀的態(tài)度。

來自柯林斯例句

2. He said they should turn their fire on the Conservative Party instead.

他說他們應(yīng)該掉轉(zhuǎn)槍口，向保守黨開火。

來自柯林斯例句

3. They found a labyrinth of tunnels under the ground.

他們發(fā)現(xiàn)了一處迷宮似的地道。

來自柯林斯例句

4. They stumble across a ghost town inhabited by a rascally gold prospector.

他們偶然來到一個居住著一位狡詐的淘金者的廢墟之城。

來自柯林斯例句

5. They had a snobbish dislike for their intellectual and social inferiors.

他們非常勢利，不喜歡智力和社會地位不如自己的人。

來自柯林斯例句