они
“они” (oni) — they in Russian. Pronoun, level A0, topic — pronouns. One word for groups of any makeup. The past tense still gives gender away: oni byli uses the plural form of "to be". In a live sentence: “Они здесь, я там” — They are here, I am there. Written with the characters о, н, и. One of 27 words in the set “pronouns” in the Russian course.
In short
| Written in Russian | они |
| Read in Latin letters | oni |
| Translation | they |
| Part of speech | pronoun |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
One word for groups of any makeup. The past tense still gives gender away: oni byli uses the plural form of "to be".
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Они здесь, я тамOni zdes, ya tamThey are here, I am there
Nearby words: pronouns
I, you, we, they. There is a handful of them, they turn up in every sentence, and politeness rides on them: most of these languages keep a formal “you” apart from a familiar one, and choosing the wrong one is noticed faster than a mispronounced word.
- яyaIOften dropped in speech: the verb ending already names the person, so ponimayu alone means "I understand". English cannot get by without its I.
- тыtyyou (informal)For family, friends and children. Moving from vy to ty is a small ceremony, and the older person or the woman offers it first.
- выvyyou (formal or plural)Polite to one person and plain plural at once — no separate polite form to learn. The verb after it is plural: vy govorite, "you speak".
- онonheWorks for people and for things: a table is on too. This pronoun is where the gender of a noun shows itself.
- онаonasheThe feminine pronoun. Words ending in -a are usually she, but not always — papa is he — so gender is learned along with the word.
- мыmyweTakes the plain plural verb: my rabotayem. The same job English gives "we", and one form covers everybody.
- мойmoymyAgrees with the thing owned, not with the owner: moy gorod, moya kvartira, moyo mesto. English "my" never changes; this one does.
- твойtvoyyour (informal)The informal "your" that goes with ty, agreeing with the thing: tvoy chay, tvoya kniga.
- нашnashourAgrees with the thing owned: nash dom, nasha ulitsa. The same pattern as moy, one form further.
- вашvashyour (formal or plural)The "your" for vy — polite to one, plain for several — agreeing with the thing: vash avtobus, vasha ochered.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “pronouns”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “they” in Russian?
One word for groups of any makeup. The past tense still gives gender away: oni byli uses the plural form of "to be".
- How do you say “my” in Russian?
Agrees with the thing owned, not with the owner: moy gorod, moya kvartira, moyo mesto. English "my" never changes; this one does.
- How do you say “you (formal or plural)” in Russian?
Polite to one person and plain plural at once — no separate polite form to learn. The verb after it is plural: vy govorite, "you speak".
- How do you say “your (formal or plural)” in Russian?
The "your" for vy — polite to one, plain for several — agreeing with the thing: vash avtobus, vasha ochered.
- How do you say “we” in Russian?
Takes the plain plural verb: my rabotayem. The same job English gives "we", and one form covers everybody.
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “they” in Russian?
«они», read “oni”. In a live sentence: “Они здесь, я там” — They are here, I am there. Pronoun, level A0, from the set “pronouns”; written with the characters о, н, и.
How is “они” written in Latin letters?
oni. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
One word for groups of any makeup. The past tense still gives gender away: oni byli uses the plural form of "to be". A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.