við / þið / þeir / þær / þau

Plural Personal Pronouns

Level 1

við we · þið you all · þeir they (masculine) · þær they (feminine) · þau they (neuter or mixed).

How It Works

Which they?

  • þeir: Jón og Páll, hestarnir (the horses).
  • þær: Anna og Sara, bækurnar (the books).
  • þau: börnin (the children), húsin (the houses), and every mixed group such as Anna og Jón.

Agreement follows the same pattern
An adjective after these pronouns has a matching ending. See Adjectives Agree With Nouns.

  • Þeir eru þreyttir. (men)
  • Þær eru þreyttar. (women)
  • Þau eru þreytt. (mixed group or neuter)

The same goes for við and þið: a mixed group says Við erum þreytt, a group of women Við erum þreyttar.

þið is plural only
Use þið for two or more people you are talking to. For one person, always use þú, however polite you want to be. See Þú for Everyone.

Object forms
As objects, við and þið become okkur and ykkur, and þeir becomes þá. See Object Pronouns (Accusative).

Examples (6)

  1. Við erum frá Íslandi.

    We are from Iceland.

    Word by Word: We are from Iceland.

  2. Hvaðan eruð þið?

    Where are you all from?

    Word by Word: Where-from are you-all?

  3. Jón og Páll? Þeir eru í vinnunni.

    Jón and Páll? They are at work.

    Word by Word: Jón and Páll? They are in work-the.

    Two men, so þeir.

  4. Anna og Sara? Þær eru heima.

    Anna and Sara? They are at home.

    Word by Word: Anna and Sara? They are at-home.

    Two women, so þær.

  5. Anna og Jón? Þau eru heima.

    Anna and Jón? They are at home.

    Word by Word: Anna and Jón? They are at-home.

    A woman and a man make a mixed group, so þau.

  6. Hvar eru börnin? Þau eru úti að leika sér.

    Where are the kids? They are outside playing.

    Word by Word: Where are children-the? They are outside to play themselves.

    barn is neuter, so the children are þau.

Common Mistakes

  • Using þeir for a mixed group.

    Anna og Jón? Þeir eru heima.
    Anna og Jón? Þau eru heima.

    þeir is only for all-masculine groups. A group of men and women is þau.

  • Forgetting agreement after þær.

    Þær eru þreyttir.
    Þær eru þreyttar.

    þær means a group of women, so the adjective has the feminine plural ending -ar.

  • Using þau for feminine things.

    Hvar eru bækurnar? Þau eru á borðinu.
    Hvar eru bækurnar? Þær eru á borðinu.

    bók is feminine, so the books are þær. þau is for neuter nouns and mixed groups.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

við / þið / þeir / þær / þauLevel 1Plural Personal Pronouns

Learn This First

The plural pronouns build on the singular ones.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

viðþiðþeirþærþau