# oni/ony/ona (they)



## artimedoros49

Hello,

The following is taken from Karel Tahal : A GRAMMAR OF CZECH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, p.25:

*“ONI* corresponds to the English pronoun _they_.
Remark: The formal standard language requires the pronoun *ONY* for inanimate masculines and for feminines, and the pronoun *ONA *for feminines. These forms, however, are not frequent in practice, as they are felt to be rather obsolete.”

Does this mean that I could safely use _“Oni” = “they (masc, fem. or neuter plural)”_ in writing an essay, for example?

If someone could verify this for me, I would be grateful.


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## atcheque

Dobrý den,

Yes, that's what I was tought too. _Oni dělali_, in common, colloquial speaking for every _they did_.


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## bibax

> ... and the pronoun *ONA* for feminines neuters.





> _Oni dělali_, in common, colloquial speaking for every _they did_.


In the written texts it is considered illiterate.

*Středověká města byla obehnána hradbami. * (The mediaeval cities ... neuter plur.)

*Ona* byla obehnána...  (They were walled ...)

Ony byly obehnány...  (for inanimate masculines and feminines)

Oni byli obehnáni...  (the ending vowel -i is reserved for animate masculines)

Oni byli obehnaný... in spoken colloquial Czech, however it looks very strange if written. We do not write this way.

Učitelova rákoska by měla posvícení. (_The teacher's cane would have a feast._)


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## Hrdlodus

In essay and other "official"situation write or say oni / ony /ona.

In colloquial speaking you don't need to think about it. It is mistake, but because we will understand, it is not a big deal.


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## karolinka_

Hello.
You can use _ONI_ when talking and writing about people in general, without giving any further information about them.


> _“Oni” = “they (masc, fem. or neuter plural)”_


Not really.
_"Oni" = "they (masc. plural)"
"Ony" = "they (fem. plural)"
"Ona" = "they (neuter plural)"
_If you want to mix it (e.g. Men and women = _Muži a ženy _--> They = _ONI_), you have to stick to one simple rule - "masculin is stronger", it means that when talking about a group of a few nouns which contains any masculin noun, you always use _ONI_.
Is that clear?


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