themselves

---

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ðɛmˈsɛlvz/, /ðəmˈsɛlvz/

Pronoun

1. The reflexive case of they, the third-person plural personal pronoun. The group of people, animals or objects previously mentioned, as the object of a verb or following a preposition (also used for emphasis).

   (reflexively): They’ve hurt themselves.

   (after a preposition): They fought among themselves.

   (for emphasis): They are going to try climbing Mount Everest themselves.

2. The reflexive case of they, the third-person singular personal pronoun. The single person previously mentioned, as the object of a verb or following a preposition (also used for emphasis).

   (reflexively): Would whoever stole my phone please make themselves known.

   (after a preposition): I don't want anyone to fight among themselves.

   (for emphasis): Everyone must do it themselves.

   • 1611, King James Bible, Philippians 2.3:

     Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Synonyms

• theirselves (nonstandard)
• (singular) themself (non-gender-specific), theirself (non-gender-specific, but nonstandard), himself, herself (gender-specific)

Translations

• French: se
• German: sich
• Portuguese: se, si (prepositional)
• Russian: себя́
• Spanish: se

Translations

• French: eux-mêmes, elles-mêmes
• Portuguese: eles mesmos, elas mesmas
• Russian: они
• Spanish: ellos mismos, ellas mismas

Translations

• Russian: себя́

---

This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.008