"their" in seven languages
Meaningtheir
Spanish
/su/
other source · Latin SUUM 'his, her own'
The same su as 'his, her': sus hijos 'their children'.
French
/lœʁ/
inherited
No feminine; plural leurs. Also the pronoun 'to them': je leur parle.
Italian
/ˈloro/
inherited
Never changes, and takes the article: la loro casa, i loro figli.
Portuguese
/ˈdelis/
other source · de + eles 'of them' (Latin DĒ + ILLŌS)
Seu also means 'their' in writing.
Romanian
/lor/
inherited
Invariable, after the noun: casa lor.
Catalan
/sew/
other source · Latin SUUM 'his, her own'
fem.: seva
Literary llur comes from ILLŌRUM, like French leur.
English
/ðɛɹ/
other source · Old Norse þeira
Watch out: false friends
loro (Spanish) means “parrot” · loro (Italian) means “they; their”
Coincidence. Italian loro is Latin ILLŌRUM 'of those'; Spanish loro comes from a Carib word for the bird.
The Latin ancestor
ILLŌRUM‘of those (ones)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
French and Italian say 'of them': leur and loro are the genitive plural of ILLE, so they barely agree with the noun, unlike every other possessive. Spanish just reuses su, from SUUM.
Learn it
In a sentence
- esSus hijos ya son mayores.
- frLeurs enfants sont déjà grands.
- itI loro figli sono già grandi.
- ptOs filhos deles já estão grandes.
- roCopiii lor sunt deja mari.
- caEls seus fills ja són grans.
- enTheir children are already grown up.