Они
Они is a pronoun that replaces grammatically plural nouns. It declines like this:
| Pl | |
| Nom | они |
| Acc | (н)их |
| Gen | |
| Pre | |
| Dat | (н)им |
| Ins | (н)ими |
The primary meaning of они is they/them in its various forms. In such contexts you get sentences like:
| Они приезжали ко мне в воскресенье. | They came to my place on Sunday. |
| Я с ними познакомился в средней школе. | I met them in high school. |
| Откуда ты их знаешь? | How do you know them? |
| Как часто ты ходишь к ним? | How often do you go to their place? |
But the interesting part of this word is when it refers to plurale tantum nouns. Such nouns are ones that grammatically occur in the plural only, never in the singular. Sometimes a noun is plurale tantum in both Russian and English, like брюки pants. If они is referring to such a word, then its forms are simply translated as they/them:
| — Где мои брюки? Я их не вижу. — Они на кухне. |
“Where are my pants? I don't see them.” “They're in the kitchen.” |
Sometimes a noun is plurale tantum in Russian, but singulare tantum (singular only) in English, such as деньги money. When они refers to such a word, then its forms are simply translated as it:
| — Где мои деньги? Я их не вижу. — Они на столе. |
“Where is my money? I don't see it.” “It's on the table.” |
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