Their in Different Languages
Discover 'Their' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'their' is a common possessive pronoun in English, used to indicate that something belongs to a group or individuals previously mentioned. Its significance extends beyond grammar, as it speaks to the collective nature of human experience and the shared ownership of ideas, objects, and emotions.
Throughout history and across cultures, the concept of possession has been expressed in various ways. For instance, in Spanish, 'their' is 'su' for masculine singular, 'su' for feminine singular, and 'sus' for plural. In French, 'their' is 'leur' for both masculine and feminine plural. These linguistic nuances reflect the rich tapestry of cultural values and traditions that shape our understanding of possession and identity.
As we navigate our increasingly interconnected world, understanding the translations of 'their' in different languages can help bridge cultural divides and foster a greater sense of global community. Here are some translations of 'their' in various languages:
Their
Their in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | hul | ||
| The word "hul" in Afrikaans comes from the Dutch word "hun", which also means "their". | |||
| Amharic | የእነሱ | ||
| "የእነሱ" can also mean "his" or "her" when referring to someone who is not present as well as can be used to refer to both animate and inanimate objects. | |||
| Hausa | nasu | ||
| The word "nasu" also means "their" in Fula and "we" in Gbaya. | |||
| Igbo | nke ha | ||
| The Igbo word "nke ha" can also refer to "theirs" or "the property of". | |||
| Malagasy | ny | ||
| The word "ny" can also mean "of him/her/it" or "belonging to" in Malagasy. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | awo | ||
| In Nyanja, the word "awo" may also mean "of these" or "of theirs". | |||
| Shona | zvavo | ||
| In some dialects, "zvavo" can also mean "only" or "just". | |||
| Somali | kooda | ||
| The word "kooda" in Somali can also mean "his" or "hers" when used as a possessive pronoun. | |||
| Sesotho | tsa bona | ||
| In Sesotho, 'tsa bona' also means 'of their' but is sometimes translated more broadly as 'by their' when the agent of the action is implied. | |||
| Swahili | yao | ||
| The noun 'yao' means 'waist' or 'hip' in Swahili. | |||
| Xhosa | yabo | ||
| In Xhosa, the word "yabo" can also refer to a person's belongings or responsibilities. | |||
| Yoruba | wọn | ||
| In its adjectival form, it may also be used as the third person plural pronoun, for which the word fɔ́n is the standard form. | |||
| Zulu | yabo | ||
| Yabo, the Zulu word for 'their', also means 'theirs' in some dialects. | |||
| Bambara | u | ||
| Ewe | woƒe | ||
| Kinyarwanda | yabo | ||
| Lingala | bango | ||
| Luganda | byaabwe | ||
| Sepedi | -a bona | ||
| Twi (Akan) | wɔn | ||
Their in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | هم | ||
| In Levantine Arabic, "هم" can also refer to "them" in the accusative case. | |||
| Hebrew | שֶׁלָהֶם | ||
| The Hebrew word "שֶׁלָהֶם" also means "theirs". | |||
| Pashto | د | ||
| The Pashto word "د" could also mean "of". | |||
| Arabic | هم | ||
| In Levantine Arabic, "هم" can also refer to "them" in the accusative case. | |||
Their in Western European Languages
| Albanian | e tyre | ||
| The Albanian word "e tyre" can also refer to "those" in English. | |||
| Basque | beren | ||
| Beren can also mean 'his' or 'hers'. | |||
| Catalan | els seus | ||
| In Catalan, "els seus" can also refer to the possessive pronoun "his" or "her" as well as "their". | |||
| Croatian | njihova | ||
| **Njihova** derives from the Proto-Slavic possessive pronoun *jьxъ*. | |||
| Danish | deres | ||
| The word “deres” in Danish does not only mean “their” but also “yours” as a polite form of address. | |||
| Dutch | hun | ||
| The Dutch word "hun" can also refer to honey or honeybees | |||
| English | their | ||
| The archaic and poetic form 'theirn', used as a possessive adjective, survives most commonly in set phrases and proverbs. | |||
| French | leur | ||
| The word "leur" in French can also mean "him" or "her" in informal speech. | |||
| Frisian | harren | ||
| The Frisian word "harren" ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *swo-, "one's own, self," but can also refer to "yours" or "his/hers" depending on context. | |||
| Galician | os seus | ||
| The word "os seus" in Galician can also refer to "his" or "her" depending on the context. | |||
| German | ihr | ||
| The German word "ihr" can also be used as the formal or polite way to address a person. | |||
| Icelandic | þeirra | ||
| Þeirra, an Icelandic possessive pronoun, is derived from the Old Norse possessive pronoun þeira derived from the Proto-Germanic possessive pronoun *þizō. | |||
| Irish | a | ||
| In Irish, "a" also serves as the possessive pronoun for "her" after certain prepositions, making it an inclusive form. | |||
| Italian | loro | ||
| "Loro" can also be used informally for | |||
| Luxembourgish | hirem | ||
| The word "hirem" in Luxembourgish also means "from them" or "of them". | |||
| Maltese | tagħhom | ||
| The word "tagħhom" in Maltese is also used as an indirect object pronoun, meaning "to them". | |||
| Norwegian | deres | ||
| In Norwegian, "deres" can also be used to express respect or formality when addressing someone. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | seus | ||
| In Portuguese, "seus" derives from the Latin "suus", meaning "his, hers, its, or their"} | |||
| Scots Gaelic | their | ||
| In Scots Gaelic, "their" can also refer to "of them", making it both a possessive and a genitive pronoun. | |||
| Spanish | su | ||
| The word "su" in Spanish can also refer to "his" or "her" depending on the context. | |||
| Swedish | deras | ||
| "deras" also means "them" or "theirs" | |||
| Welsh | eu | ||
| The word "eu" in Welsh can also be used to mean "his", "her", or "its" depending on the context. | |||
Their in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | іх | ||
| Іх is also an alternative or archaic form of the nominative and accusative plural of the personal pronoun я (I). | |||
| Bosnian | njihov | ||
| Njihov also means their's in Bosnian, an adjectival possessive pronoun. | |||
| Bulgarian | техен | ||
| The Bulgarian word "техен" (their) comes from the Old Church Slavonic possessive pronoun "техъ", meaning "of them" | |||
| Czech | jejich | ||
| The word "jejich" in Czech originally meant "her" in the singular and only later came to mean "their" in the plural. | |||
| Estonian | nende | ||
| The word "nende" can also refer to "them" in the accusative case. | |||
| Finnish | heidän | ||
| The word "heidän" in Finnish might be related to the Proto-Uralic root "*teγtäŋ" meaning "he, she, it". | |||
| Hungarian | azok | ||
| The word "azok" is derived from the Proto-Uralic word "*tä", meaning "they" or "their", and is cognate with the Finnish word "he", meaning "they". | |||
| Latvian | viņu | ||
| In the Latgalian language, "viņu" also means "theirs". | |||
| Lithuanian | jų | ||
| The Lithuanian word "jų" can also refer to the possessive form of "jie" (they) when used as a pronoun. | |||
| Macedonian | нивните | ||
| The Macedonian word "нивните" comes from the Proto-Slavic word *nixъ, meaning "them". | |||
| Polish | ich | ||
| The Polish word "ich" can also refer to the plural form of "he" or "she" in the nominative case. | |||
| Romanian | al lor | ||
| In Romanian, "al lor" also means "of them", as a possessive adjective. | |||
| Russian | их | ||
| The word "их" in Russian can also refer to the third-person plural pronoun "they" or the possessive pronoun "theirs." | |||
| Serbian | њихов | ||
| The word "њихов" can also be used to refer to the object which is closest from the speaker to the listener with respect to the speaker's point of view. | |||
| Slovak | ich | ||
| "Ich" in Slovak can also mean "mine" or "our" depending on the context. | |||
| Slovenian | njihovi | ||
| "njihovi" is a possessive pronoun that can also mean "his" or "hers". | |||
| Ukrainian | їх | ||
| The Ukrainian word "їх" can also mean "them" or "theirs" in English. | |||
Their in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | তাদের | ||
| The possessive pronoun 'তাদের' ('their') can also refer to a body of water in some contexts in Bengali. | |||
| Gujarati | તેમના | ||
| The word "તેમના" can also refer to the possessive form of the pronoun "તે" (he/she/it). | |||
| Hindi | जो अपने | ||
| ''जो अपने'' is also used as an emphatic form of the pronoun ''वह'' (he/she/it). | |||
| Kannada | ಅವರ | ||
| ಅವರ (Avra) is also used in literary Kannada as an honorific second person singular pronoun. | |||
| Malayalam | അവരുടെ | ||
| The word 'അവരുടെ' ('their') in Malayalam can also refer to a group of people who are not necessarily related. | |||
| Marathi | त्यांचे | ||
| Marathi "त्यांचे" is derived from Sanskrit "teṣāṃ" meaning "of them" and has the same meaning as "their" in English. | |||
| Nepali | उनीहरूको | ||
| The Nepali word 'उनीहरूको' ('their') is derived from the Sanskrit word 'तस्य' ('of that'), which is also the origin of the English word 'they'. | |||
| Punjabi | ਆਪਣੇ | ||
| In addition to meaning "their", "ਆਪਣੇ" can also function as a reflexive pronoun, meaning "oneself" or "oneselves." | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | ඔවුන්ගේ | ||
| The word "ඔවුන්ගේ" (their) in Sinhala is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*swe, | |||
| Tamil | அவர்களது | ||
| Tamil "அவர்களது" can also mean "him," "her," or "them" and often represents a singular subject that can take singular agreement. | |||
| Telugu | వారి | ||
| Telugu "వారి" is also used in the sense of "their" when used as an honorific suffix to names. | |||
| Urdu | ان کی | ||
Their in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 其 | ||
| 其 can also refer to "it" or "that," and is used in formal writing to replace 他 (he) or 她 (she). | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 其 | ||
| 其, as a pronoun or determiner, means "their", but can also be used in reference to the speaker (similar to "ours" in English). | |||
| Japanese | 彼らの | ||
| "彼ら" (かれら, karera) is composed of "かれ (kare)" meaning "he" and "ら (ra)" meaning "plural". | |||
| Korean | 그들의 | ||
| 그들의 can mean both "their" and "his/her/your" in Korean, depending on the context. | |||
| Mongolian | тэдний | ||
| Тэдний (their) also means "those ones" or "a particular group of people". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | သူတို့ရဲ့ | ||
Their in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | mereka | ||
| The Indonesian word 'mereka' not only means 'their', but also 'they' and 'them'. | |||
| Javanese | sing | ||
| The Javanese word 'sing' can also refer to a possessive pronoun meaning 'his', 'her', or 'its'. | |||
| Khmer | របស់ពួកគេ | ||
| The word "របស់ពួកគេ" can also mean "his" or "hers" when referring to someone in possession of something. | |||
| Lao | ຂອງເຂົາເຈົ້າ | ||
| This word can also be used as a possessive pronoun meaning "of theirs" or "belonging to them" | |||
| Malay | mereka | ||
| The word 'mereka' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'mṛgyata' meaning 'to hunt' and can also refer to a group of people or animals. | |||
| Thai | ของพวกเขา | ||
| The word "ของพวกเขา" can also mean "their possessions" or "their belongings". | |||
| Vietnamese | của chúng | ||
| The word "của chúng" can also be used as a possessive pronoun with the meaning "ours". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | kanilang | ||
Their in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | onların | ||
| "Onların" also means "his" or "her" in Azerbaijani. | |||
| Kazakh | олардың | ||
| The word "олардың" in Kazakh can also refer to "those who are absent". | |||
| Kyrgyz | алардын | ||
| The word "алардын" can also be used to mean "theirs". | |||
| Tajik | онҳо | ||
| The Tajik word "онҳо" can also be used as an interrogative pronoun, meaning "who?" or "whom?" | |||
| Turkmen | olaryň | ||
| Uzbek | ularning | ||
| The Uzbek word "ularning" can also refer to "of the people" or "belonging to the people." | |||
| Uyghur | their | ||
Their in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kā lākou | ||
| "Kā lākou" also means "they" or "them" in Hawaiian. | |||
| Maori | a raatau | ||
| The word "a raatau" can also refer to "his" or "her" in Maori, depending on the context. | |||
| Samoan | latou | ||
| In Samoan, 'latou' can also mean 'ours', as pronouns in Polynesian languages don't distinguish between 'our' and 'their'. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | ang kanilang | ||
| "Ang kanilang" is the possessive form of the 3rd person plural pronoun "sila" (they). It can also mean "theirs" when used in relation to a noun. | |||
Their in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | jupankirinaka | ||
| Guarani | imba'ekuéra | ||
Their in International Languages
| Esperanto | ilia | ||
| "Ilia" is the Esperanto plural definite pronoun; it is the accusative singular feminine form of "ili", which means "his, hers, its, theirs." | |||
| Latin | eorum | ||
| In Late Latin, "eorum" could mean "of them" as well as "their." | |||
Their in Others Languages
| Greek | δικα τους | ||
| In Modern Greek, "δικα τους" can also mean "theirs", or "their family, people, or belongings" | |||
| Hmong | lawv | ||
| The Hmong word "lawv" also has the meanings "law" and "way". | |||
| Kurdish | yê wê | ||
| The word "yê wê" can also mean "of them" or "related to them". | |||
| Turkish | onların | ||
| The Turkish word "onların" has different etymologies depending on the possessive pronoun it represents, as it can refer to both the third person singular and plural. | |||
| Xhosa | yabo | ||
| In Xhosa, the word "yabo" can also refer to a person's belongings or responsibilities. | |||
| Yiddish | זייער | ||
| The word "זייער" can also be used to mean strong or very, e.g. "a זייער גוטע סעודה" is a "very good dinner". | |||
| Zulu | yabo | ||
| Yabo, the Zulu word for 'their', also means 'theirs' in some dialects. | |||
| Assamese | তেওঁলোকৰ | ||
| Aymara | jupankirinaka | ||
| Bhojpuri | उनकर | ||
| Dhivehi | އެމީހުންގެ | ||
| Dogri | उं'दा | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | kanilang | ||
| Guarani | imba'ekuéra | ||
| Ilocano | da | ||
| Krio | dɛn | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | هی ئەوان | ||
| Maithili | हुनकर | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯈꯣꯏꯒꯤ | ||
| Mizo | an | ||
| Oromo | kan isaanii | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ସେମାନଙ୍କର | ||
| Quechua | paykunaq | ||
| Sanskrit | तेषाम् | ||
| Tatar | аларның | ||
| Tigrinya | ናቶም | ||
| Tsonga | swa lavaya | ||