they
Listen to an audio pronunciation
ellos
Listen to an audio pronunciation
ellas
Listen to an audio pronunciation
DictionaryExamplesPronunciationPhrases
they(
they
)
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 Scottishson escoceses
They haven't got it!¡ellos no lo tienen!
they alone knowsólo ellos lo saben
2. (indefinite use)
a.
This refers to an idiomatic word or phrase for which there is no word-for-word translation.
no direct translation
nobody ever admits they've liedla 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
Word Roots
Hover on a tile to learn new words with the same root.
Loading roots
Examples
'they' in our machine translators
Learn Spanish with Fluencia, the easiest way to learn Spanish from the creators of SpanishDict
Explore SpanishDict
We've combined the most accurate English to Spanish translations, dictionary, verb conjugations, and Spanish to English translators into one very powerful search box.
Learn Spanish with Fluencia
Try Fluencia, the new Spanish learning program from SpanishDict.
  • Fun and interactive
  • Highly effective
  • Easy to use
  • Works on any device
Start Learning
Did this page answer your question?