their
pronunciation
How to pronounce their in British English:
UK [ðeə(r)]
How to pronounce their in American English:
US [ðer]
Word Origin
- their
- their: [12] Like they and them, their was borrowed from Old Norse. Its source was theirra, the genitive plural form of the demonstrative adjective sá. The pronoun form theirs [13] is an English creation.=> them, they
- their (pron.)
- plural possessive pronoun, c. 1200, from Old Norse þierra "of them," genitive of plural personal and demonstrative pronoun þeir "they" (see they). Replaced Old English hiera. As an adjective from late 14c. Use with singular objects, scorned by grammarians, is attested from c. 1300, and OED quotes this in Fielding, Goldsmith, Sydney Smith, and Thackeray. Theirs (c. 1300) is a double possessive. Alternative form theirn (1836) is attested in Midlands and southern dialect in U.K. and the Ozarks region of the U.S.
Example
- 1. We should follow their example .
- 2. Their parameters are quite different .
- 3. Their eggs are very tough .
- 4. We are all their descendants .
- 5. The topic was their marriage .