Ili is the foundational third-person plural pronoun. It refers to two or more known people, animals, things, or mixed referents and does not mark gender. English “they” overlaps with ili, but English also uses “they” for unknown people and singular individuals; standard Esperanto keeps those meanings separate.
Subject, object, and possessive forms
The basic system is regular:
| Function | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| subject | ili | the known plural referents act or are in a state |
| direct object | ilin | an action directly affects them |
| possessive | ilia | belonging or related to them |
Ili and ilin never take -j: plurality is already part of the pronoun. Ilia, however, is an adjective and agrees with the thing possessed: ilia domo, iliaj domoj, ilian domon, iliajn domojn.
Mia frato kaj lia edzo loĝas proksime; ili ofte vizitas nin.
My brother and his husband live nearby; they often visit us.
Kie estas la fakturoj? — Mi metis ilin en la bluan dosierujon.
Where are the invoices? — I put them in the blue folder.
La najbaroj vendas sian domon, sed iliaj infanoj volas resti en la sama lernejo.
The neighbors are selling their house, but their children want to stay at the same school.
In the last example, sian domon is reflexive: the neighbors are the subject and the house is their own. Iliaj infanoj begins a new subject noun phrase and points back non-reflexively to the neighbors.
People, things, animals, and mixed groups
Unlike singular li, ŝi, and ĝi, plural ili makes no gender or animacy distinction. A group of women, a group of men, a mixed group, three dogs, and four keys can all be ili. The antecedent supplies the real-world information.
Ana kaj Jozefo jam alvenis; ili atendas nin en la vestiblo.
Ana and Joseph have already arrived; they are waiting for us in the lobby.
La tasoj ankoraŭ estas varmaj, ĉar ili ĵus eliris el la vazlavilo.
The cups are still warm because they have just come out of the dishwasher.
La du hundoj ekbojis, kiam ili aŭdis paŝojn ĉe la pordo.
The two dogs began barking when they heard footsteps at the door.
This unification is a major simplification: Esperanto does not require masculine plural agreement for a mixed group. Predicative adjectives agree only in number: Ili estas pretaj, whether the referents are people or things.
A known plural, not indefinite “they”
Ili normally points to an identifiable plural group already named or clear from the situation. English informal “they say that...” often leaves the people unspecified. Esperanto uses oni for that impersonal meaning.
La organizantoj ŝanĝis la programon. Ili sendos novan version hodiaŭ.
The organizers changed the program. They will send a new version today.
Oni diras, ke la ponto remalfermiĝos venontsemajne.
They say that the bridge will reopen next week.
In the first example, ili has the explicit antecedent la organizantoj. In the second, no specific group matters. Substituting ili would make the listener look for a previously identified set of people.
English also uses singular “they” for one person whose gender is unknown or nonbinary. Foundational and mainstream Esperanto ili remains plural. For one person, established options include a name, tiu persono, li aŭ ŝi, or the nonofficial but attested ri when suitable for the audience and individual. See Ri and Gender-Neutral Reference.
Reflexive plural reference
When ili is the subject and the same plural participants reappear as object or possessor in the same simple clause, use si, sin, or sia. Reflexive si has no number ending; its number comes from the antecedent.
Post la maratono ili fotis sin antaŭ la cellinio.
After the marathon they photographed themselves in front of the finish line.
La studentoj kunportis siajn tekokomputilojn.
The students brought their own laptops.
La studentoj kunportis iliajn tekokomputilojn.
The students brought their laptops—the laptops of some other people.
That pair is a true meaning contrast. Siajn links the laptops to the student subjects. Iliajn deliberately points elsewhere. The -j and -n on both possessives agree with plural accusative tekokomputilojn; they do not encode how many owners there are.
Si cannot itself be the subject. Say Ili venos, never Si venos. It is also bounded by the relevant clause:
La gepatroj diris, ke la infanoj lavu sin.
The parents said that the children should wash themselves.
Here sin belongs to the embedded subject la infanoj, not to la gepatroj. To refer back to the parents as object of lavu, use ilin.
Recoverable reference and ambiguity
Because ili itself carries only “third person plural,” multiple plural antecedents can create ambiguity. Repeat a noun or choose a clearer expression when two groups are active.
La kuracistoj renkontis la flegistojn post la deĵoro, kaj ili proponis ŝanĝi la horaron.
The doctors met the nurses after the shift, and they proposed changing the schedule.
The grammar does not reveal whether ili means the doctors or the nurses. Natural conversation may resolve that from context, but formal writing should not make the reader guess:
La kuracistoj renkontis la flegistojn post la deĵoro, kaj la flegistoj proponis ŝanĝi la horaron.
The doctors met the nurses after the shift, and the nurses proposed changing the schedule.
Pronouns are tools for recoverable reference, not automatic substitutes for every repeated noun. Repetition is often the more elegant choice when it prevents rereading.
Collectives: ĝi or ili?
A singular collective such as familio, publiko, teamo, or komitato can be resumed by ĝi when treated as one unit. Ili is possible when the discourse shifts transparently to the individual members.
La teamo gajnis la finalon, kaj ĝi ricevos la pokalon ĉi-vespere.
The team won the final, and it will receive the trophy this evening.
La teamo revenis al la hotelo, kaj ili iris al siaj propraj ĉambroj.
The team returned to the hotel, and the members went to their own rooms.
The second example has a clear distributive cue: separate people go to separate rooms. In careful prose, la teamanoj can make the shift explicit.
Norm and modern variation
The foundational norm is stable: ili is plural and covers known third-person referents without gender or animacy distinctions. Modern Esperanto follows that system broadly. Singular ili, modeled especially on English singular “they,” can be encountered, but it is not the ordinary standard and may be misunderstood as referring to several people.
For clear international use, reserve ili for genuine plural reference. When a person’s chosen pronoun is ri, use ri consistently in communities that know it; in a broad formal audience, introduce the pronoun or rephrase rather than silently assigning singular meaning to ili.
Common Mistakes
Adding a plural ending to ili
❌ Ilij jam alvenis.
Incorrect — ili is already plural and never takes -j.
✅ Ili jam alvenis.
They have already arrived.
Missing accusative -n
❌ Mi renkontis ili ĉe la stacidomo.
Incorrect — the pronoun is the direct object.
✅ Mi renkontis ilin ĉe la stacidomo.
I met them at the station.
Copying indefinite English “they”
❌ Ili diras, ke oni konstruos novan hospitalon.
Incorrect without a known plural antecedent — ili implies a specific previously identified group.
✅ Oni diras, ke oni konstruos novan hospitalon.
They say that a new hospital will be built.
Using ilia for the subject’s own possession
❌ La infanoj purigis ilian ĉambron.
Wrong for the intended meaning ‘their own room’ — ilian points to other people.
✅ La infanoj purigis sian ĉambron.
The children cleaned their own room.
Key Takeaways
- Ili is third-person plural for known people, animals, things, and mixed groups.
- Use ilin for a direct object; inflect ilia according to the possessed noun.
- Use oni, not ili, for unidentified people in generic English “they” statements.
- Use si/sin/sia when the plural subject refers back to itself within its clause.
- Standard Esperanto does not use ili as a general singular gender-neutral pronoun.
Related Topics
- Personal Pronouns: OverviewA1 — Learn Esperanto personal pronouns as a system of person, number, accusative marking, possession, and reflexive reference.
- OniB1 — Use oni for generic or unidentified human agents, with precise contrasts to vi, ili, passives, and reflexive si.
- Accusative Personal PronounsA1 — Add -n to a personal pronoun when it is a direct object, while leaving pronouns after ordinary prepositions unmarked.
- Possessive AgreementA2 — Make possessive A-words agree in number and accusative case with the possessed noun, not with the possessor.
- The Reflexive Pronoun SiA1 — Use si and sin when a third-person subject refers back to itself, and distinguish reflexive reference from ordinary third-person pronouns.