¿Quiénes son ellos?
The English phrase "who are they" is translated into Spanish as ¿Quiénes son ellos?
This phrase is used to ask for the identity of a group of people. In this specific form, the pronoun ellos refers to a group of males or a mixed-gender group.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of several parts: quiénes is the plural form of the word for "who". son is the third-person plural form of the verb ser, which is used here to express essential identity. And ellos means "they" when referring to males or a mixed group.
Which one should you use?
While ¿Quiénes son ellos? is a complete way to ask the question, in casual Spanish, the subject pronoun ellos is often omitted. In those cases, you can simply say ¿Quiénes son? to mean "Who are they?"
How does it change in a sentence?
Because the subject being asked about is plural, you must use the plural form of who, which is quiénes. Additionally, if you were referring specifically to a group of only women, you would replace ellos with ellas.
Did you know?
- In some Spanish dialects, asking ¿Quiénes son? can be used as a way to challenge someone's authority or status rather than just asking for a name.
- In Spanish, even if a group of 'they' contains one hundred women and only one man, you must use the masculine ellos to refer to them.
- The Spanish word son shares a common linguistic ancestor with the English word 'sound'.
Examples in context
- ¿Quiénes son ellos?Who are they?This example shows how to ask "Who are they?" using the form ¿Quiénes son ellos?Tatoeba #1953327 by marcelostockle, translation #307119 by CK
Example conversation
Daniel and Lucía are looking at a group of people in the park.
- Daniel¿Quiénes son ellos?Who are they?
- LucíaSon los nuevos vecinos.They are the new neighbors.
- DanielParecen muy simpáticos.They look very nice.
- LucíaSí, son muy amables.Yes, they are very kind.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ellos, son, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
