"they" in seven languages
Meaningthey
Spanish
/ˈeʝos/
inherited
fem.: ellas
From the accusative ILLŌS; also the form after prepositions: para ellos.
French
/il/
inherited
fem.: elles
Old French il (from the nominative ILLĪ) took a plural -s later. After a preposition: eux (pour eux).
Italian
/ˈloro/
inherited
From the genitive ILLŌRUM 'of those', so the same word also means 'their'. One form for both genders.
Portuguese
/ˈelis/
inherited
fem.: elas
Romanian
/jej/
inherited
fem.: ele
From the nominative ILLĪ, like French ils.
Catalan
/eʎs/
inherited
fem.: elles
English
/ðeɪ/
other source · Old Norse þeir
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
ILLŌS (sing. ILLE)‘those (ones)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The pointing word ILLE 'that one' became 'they' everywhere, each sister from a different case: Spanish ellos from ILLŌS, French ils from ILLĪ, Italian loro from ILLŌRUM 'of them'. Object 'them' is a set of short forms (los, les, li) taught with the verb.
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEllos están cansados, pero nosotros no.
- frIls sont fatigués, mais pas nous.
- itLoro sono stanchi, noi no.
- ptEles estão cansados, mas nós não.
- roEi sunt obosiți, dar noi nu.
- caElls estan cansats, però nosaltres no.
- enThey're tired, but we aren't.