Definition of 'their'
language note: Their is the third person plural possessive determiner.
1. determiner
You use their to indicate that something belongs or relates to the group of people, animals, or
things that you are
talking about.
Janis and Kurt have announced their engagement.
Horses were poking their heads over their stall doors.
...as the trees shed their leaves and the year begins to die.
2. determiner
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
their
Word Frequency
their in British English
determiner
▶ USAGE See note at
they1.
of, belonging to, or associated in some way with them
their finest hour
their own clothes
she tried to combat their mocking her
2.
belonging to or associated in some way with people in general not including the
speaker or people
addressed
in many countries they wash their clothes in the river
3.
belonging to or associated in some way with an
indefinite
antecedent such as one, whoever, or anybody
everyone should bring their own lunch
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C12: from Old Norse theira (genitive plural); see they, themWord Frequency
their in American English
possessive pronominal adjective
of, belonging to, made by, or done by them
also used before some formal titles [Their Majesties]: often used in connection with a preceding singular pronoun (as everybody, somebody, everyone) did everybody finish their lunch?
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME theyr < ON theirra, gen. pl. of the demonstrative pron. replacing ME here, OE hira: see
theyExample sentences including
their
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Trends of
their
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In other languages
their
British English: their
/ðɛə/ DETERMINER
You use their to say that something belongs to a group of people, animals, or things.
They took off their coats.
- American English: their
- Arabic: مِلْكُهُم
- Brazilian Portuguese: deles
- Chinese: 他们的
- Croatian: njihov
- Czech: jejich
- Danish: deres
- Dutch: hun
- European Spanish: su ellos
- Finnish: heidän
- French: leur
- German: ihr
- Greek: δικός τους
- Italian: loro
- Japanese: 彼らの
- Korean: 그들의
- Norwegian: deres
- Polish: ich
- European Portuguese: deles
- Romanian: lor
- Russian: их
- Latin American Spanish: su
- Swedish: deras
- Thai: ของเขาเหล่านั้น
- Turkish: onların
- Ukrainian: їхній
- Vietnamese: của họ
Nearby words of
their
Source
Definition of their from the
Collins English Dictionary
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serial
cereal
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horse or mule?
Which version is correct?
black or green?
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shirt or trousers?
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red or white?
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red
white
a herring
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