A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun (e.g. she).
pronoun 1. (subject)
a. ellos (masculine) They work in the rail industry. Ellos trabajan en la industria ferroviaria.
b. ellas (feminine) They are sisters. Ellas son hermanas.
2. (indefinite use)
a.
This refers to an idiomatic word or phrase for which there is no word-for-word translation.
no direct translation That's what they say! ¡Eso es lo que se dice!
The lights in the sky never change, or so they thought. Las luces del cielo nunca cambian o eso pensaban.
Copyright © Curiosity Media Inc.
they
A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun (e.g. she).
pronoun 1. (personal use)
a. ellos mpl, ellas fpl they're Scottish son escoceses
They haven't got it! ¡ellos no lo tienen!
they alone know sólo ellos lo saben
2. (indefinite use)
a. nobody ever admits they've lied la gente nunca reconoce que ha mentido
they say that… dicen que…
Copyright © 2006 Harrap Publishers Limited
they [ðeɪ]
pronoun
Note that subject pronouns are used less in Spanish than in English - mainly for emphasis, to avoid ambiguity and in comparisons.
2 (referring to particular people, things) (emphatic, to avoid ambiguity) ellosellas;ellas we went to the cinema but they didn't nosotros fuimos al cine pero ellos no; I spoke to my sisters and they agreed with me hablé con mis hermanas y ellas estaban de acuerdo conmigo; it's they who ... son ellos quienes ...; we work harder than they do trabajamos más que ellos
Don't translate the subject pronoun when not emphasizing or clarifying:
they're fine, thank you están bien, gracias; they're yellow son amarillos
they who ... los que ...; quienes ...
we went to the cinema but they didn't nosotros fuimos al cine pero ellos no
3 (referring to "someone", "anyone") if anyone tells you otherwise, they're mistaken si alguien te dice lo contrario, no tiene razón
if anyone thinks that, they must be stupid if someone hits a policeman they're bound to get into trouble
4 (generalizing) they say that ... se dice que ...; dicen que ...; as they say como dicen; según dicen; they are making it illegal lo van a hacer ilegal
Collins Complete Spanish Electronic Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
Phrases
Machine Translators
Translate they using machine translators
See Machine Translations
Want to Learn Spanish?
Spanish learning for everyone. For free.
SpanishDict Premium
Have you tried it yet? Here's what's included:
Try 7 Days for Free