Questions & Answers about Они там. Ты их видишь?
I learned before that их means "their". Why does it mean "them" here?
In Russian, их does double duty! It is the possessive word for "their", but as you are learning in this lesson, it is also the Accusative case form of они (they). Since they are the direct object being seen in this sentence, они changes to их to mean "them".
Why is the word order Ты их видишь (You them see)? Can I say Ты видишь их?
Yes, you can absolutely say Ты видишь их. Russian word order is flexible, but in everyday speech, it is extremely common to put short object pronouns like их right before the verb instead of after it.
Where is the verb "are" in Они там?
In the present tense, Russian almost always leaves out the verb "to be" (am, is, are). You just put the subject and the location next to each other, so "They are there" simply becomes Они там (literally: They there).
Why does the verb видишь end in -ишь?
This is the standard verb ending when you are matching a verb with ты (the informal "you"). The dictionary form of the verb is видеть (to see), and the ending changes to -ишь to match the subject.
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