dem

See also: Appendix:Variations of "dem"

Languages (25)

Translingual • English

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Albanian • Antigua and Barbuda Creole English • Catalan • Chinese • Danish • Galician • German • Gullah • Irish • Jamaican Creole • Latin • Luxembourgish • Middle High German • Nigerian Pidgin • Northern Kurdish • Norwegian Bokmål • Pennsylvania German • Pitcairn-Norfolk • Swedish • Turkish • Wolof • Zazaki • Zhuang

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

From English Dem.

Symbol

dem

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Dem.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Dem terms

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛm/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛm

Pronoun

dem

1. Nonstandard form of them.
   • 2007 February 25, Sia Michel, “Stephen Marley in Tallahassee, M.I.A. in India and Klaxons on Fire”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Go tell dem natty dreadlocks no wear handcuff,” advises Damian Marley, his guest star and younger brother, who accuses the officers of jealousy.

Determiner

dem

1. Nonstandard form of them, in the sense of "those".

   What are dem fings doing ’ere?

2. (Caribbean, Jamaica, MLE, slang) (clitic, suffix) A group of.
   • 1956, “Give Her Love”, performed by Chin’s Calypso Sextet:

     Love tenderness is what the woman dem want

   • 2009, Dizzee Rascal, Chillin' Wiv Da Man Dem:

     Chillin' wiv da man dem
     Jammin' wiv da man dem
     It's all good in the hood wiv da man dem

   • 2010, Plan B, Stay Too Long:

     I’ve got my peeps dem with me shouting pull up your socks,
     Cos we just broke the law and now we're running from cops.

Derived terms

• gyal dem

Anagrams

• D. Me., DME, EDM, Edm, MEd, Med, Med., med

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *dama, from Proto-Indo-European *dm̥h₂ós (“bull”) (compare Irish damh, Ancient Greek δάμαλος (dámalos, “calf”)), from *demh₂- (“to tame”) (compare Latin domō, English tame).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

dem m (plural dema, definite demi, definite plural demat)

1. bull
2. main load-bearing beam in a floor

Declension

Declension of dem

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	dem	demi	dema	demat
accusative		demin
dative	demi	demit	demave	demave
ablative			demash

Synonyms

• ter

Further reading

• “dem”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006
• FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[2], 1980
• Newmark, Leonard (1999), “dem”, in Oxford Albanian-English Dictionary‎^[3], Oxford: Oxford University Press

Antigua and Barbuda Creole English

Etymology

From English them.

Pronoun

dem

1. they (plural)
2. them (plural)
3. theirs (plural possessive)

Derived terms

• demya

Particle

dem

1. (postpositive) placed after a noun phrase to mark it as plural; -s

   fumi daag dem ― my dogs

References

• Jerene Joseph, Antigua and Barbuda Dictionary (2019)
• Joy Lawrence, The Way Wed Talk and Other Antiguan Folkways (2003)

Catalan

Verb

dem

1. inflection of dar:
   1. first-person plural present indicative/subjunctive
   2. first-person plural imperative

Chinese

Etymology 1

From clipping of English demonstrate.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): dem¹

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: dem¹
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dem¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: dém¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɛːm⁵⁵/

Verb

dem

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, colloquial) to demonstrate; to show; to perform

Derived terms

• dem beat

Etymology 2

From clipping of English Democrat.

Proper noun

dem

1. (Internet slang, US Politics) The Democratic Party in the United States.
2. (Internet slang, US Politics) A member or supporter of the Democratic Party in the United States.

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛm/, [ˈd̥ɛm], [d̥ɛm], [d̥m̩], [pm̩]

Pronoun

dem (nominative de, possessive deres)

1. them (3rd person plural, objective case)

See also

Danish personal pronouns

Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	Possessive
					common	neuter	plural
Singular	First	–	jeg	mig	min	mit	mine
	Second	modern / informal	du	dig	din	dit	dine
		formal (uncommon)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	masculine (person)	han	ham	hans
		feminine (person)	hun	hende	hendes
		common (noun)	den		dens
		neuter (noun)	det		dets
		indefinite	man	en	ens
		reflexive	–	sig	sin	sit	sine
Plural	First	modern	vi	os	vores
		archaic / formal			vor	vort	vore
	Second	–	I	jer	jeres
	Third	–	de	dem	deres
		reflexive	–	sig

Galician

Verb

dem

1. (reintegrationist norm) inflection of dar:
   1. third-person plural present subjunctive
   2. third-person plural imperative

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deːm/ (stressed) (for the pronoun)
• IPA^(key): /dem/, /dəm/, /dm̩/ (unstressed) (for the article)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Article

dem

1. dative masculine/neuter singular of der: the

Declension

Declension of der (definite article)

	singular			plural
	m	f	n
nominative	der	die	das	die
genitive	des	der	des	der
dative	dem	der	dem	den
accusative	den	die	das	die

Pronoun

dem (relative)

1. dative masculine/neuter singular of der: to whom, to which

Declension

Declension of der (relative pronoun)

	singular			plural
	m	f	n
nominative	der	die	das	die
genitive	dessen	deren derer	dessen	deren derer
dative	dem	der	dem	denen
accusative	den	die	das	die

Derived terms

• dementsprechend
• demgegenüber
• demzufolge

Further reading

• “dem” in Duden online
• “dem”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[4] (in German)

Gullah

Etymology

From English them.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪm/

Particle

dem

1. (post-positional) plural marker

Pronoun

dem

1. (third-person plural object-oblique) them
2. (demonstrative) those

Inflection

Gullah Geechee personal pronouns

Number	singular		plural
puss'n	subject	object-oblique	subject	object-oblique
fus	Uh, A1	me	we
sekint	yuh, ya1		oonuh, oona1
tud	e, i1	um	dey	dem

¹ alternate spelling

References

• Virginia Mixson Geraty, Gulluh fuh oonuh: Gullah for You (1997)
• Lorenzo Dow Turner, Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect (1969)
•  Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association. Afro-Seminole Creole Wikitongues Language Class 
•  David B. Frank. Gullah Grammar Sketch

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʲɛmˠ/

Contraction

dem (triggers lenition)

1. (Munster) contraction of de +‎ mo, literally “from my”

   Chrochas dem ghualainn é.

   I suspended it from my shoulder.

Related terms

Irish preposition contractions

	contracted with							copular forms
base form	an (“the sg”)	na (“the pl”)	mo (“my”)	do (“your”)	a (“his, her, their; which (present)”)	ár (“our”)	ar (“which (past)”)	before a consonant	before a vowel
									present/future	past/conditional
de (“from”)	den	de na desna*	de mo dem*	de do ded*, det*	dá	dár		dar	darb	darbh
do (“to, for”)	don	do na dosna*	do mo dom*	do do dod*, dot*	dá	dár		dar	darb	darbh
faoi (“under, about”)	faoin	faoi na	faoi mo	faoi do	faoina	faoinár	faoinar		faoinarb	faoinarbh
i (“in”)	sa, san	sna	i mo im*	i do id*, it*	ina	inár	inar		inarb	inarbh
le (“with”)	leis an	leis na	le mo lem*	le do led*, let*	lena	lenár	lenar		lenarb	lenarbh
ó (“from, since”)	ón	ó na ósna*	ó mo óm*	ó do ód*, ót*	óna	ónár	ónar		ónarb	ónarbh
trí (“through”)	tríd an	trí na	trí mo	trí do	trína	trínár	trínar		trínarb	trínarbh

*dialectal

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *þaimaz

Old Norse þeimbor.

Middle English þem

English them

Jamaican Creole dem

Inherited from English them.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛm/
• Homophone: -dem

Pronoun

dem

1. they (plural)
2. them (plural)
3. theirs (plural possessive)

Derived terms

• fi dem

Related terms

• mi
• yuh
• har
• im
• shi
• wi
• unnu

Particle

dem

1. (postpositive) placed after a noun phrase to mark it as plural; -s

   mi fren dem ― my friends

Further reading

• dem at majstro.com
• “A Learner’s Grammar of Jamaican”, in Open Grammar Project‎^[5], 2015, Glossary‎^[6]

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈdẽː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈdɛm]

Verb

dem

1. first-person singular present active subjunctive of dō

Luxembourgish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dem/, [dəm]

Determiner

dem m

1. unstressed form of deem

Declension

Luxembourgish definite articles

	singular			plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nom./acc.	deen (den)	déi (d')	dat (d')	déi (d')
dative	deem (dem)	där (der)	deem (dem)	deen (den)
genitive		der

Middle High German

Alternative forms

• dëme

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (before 13^th CE) /ˈdɛm/

Pronoun

dëm

1. masculine/neuter dative singular of dër

Nigerian Pidgin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *þaimaz

Old Norse þeimbor.

Middle English þem

English them

Nigerian Pidgin dem

Inherited from English them.

Pronoun

dem

1. them, they
   • 2025 April 23, Orla Guerin, “More dan 150 pipo injure as earthquakes shake buildings for Turkey Istanbul”, in BBC News Pidgin‎^[7], archived from the original on 13 August 2025:

     For now, no immediate reports of casualties or wider damage, but Istanbul officials say dem dey check buildings, den warn pipo to stay clear of potentially-damaged sites.

     For now, there are no immediate reports of casualties or wider damage, but Istanbul officials say they are checking buildings, then warning people to stay clear of potentially damaged sites.

Further reading

• “dem” in Naija Guru, 2026.

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

Compare Persian دم (dam, “breathe, moment”).

Noun

dem f

1. time

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛm/, [dɛmː]
• (unstressed pronoun) IPA^(key): /dɛm/, [dɛm]
• Rhymes: -ɛm
• Homophone: Dem
• Hyphenation: dem

Etymology 1

PIE word
*só

Inherited from Middle Norwegian þæim (“them”), attested in a document from 1409, from Old Norse þeim (“them; those”), the dative plural of sá (“that”), from Proto-Germanic *þaimaz, its dative plural, from Proto-Indo-European *tóymos, the masculine and neuter dative/ablative plural of *só (“that”). The former dative became the general object form.

Compare dialectal Norwegian Nynorsk deim, Danish dem, Swedish dem, Icelandic þeim, Faroese teimum and English them (“them”); the English form was borrowed from Old Norse through Middle English.

Pronoun

dem (nominative de, possessive deres)

1. them; the third-person plural object pronoun, referring to people, animals or things.

   Jeg møtte dem på stasjonen. ― I met them at the station.

   Vi ga dem litt mat. ― We gave them some food.

   Jeg snakket med dem i går. ― I spoke with them yesterday.

   og dem — (colloquial, especially after a personal name) and the others associated with that person.

   Vi skal besøke Per og dem i helgen. ― We're going to visit Per and the others this weekend.

   • 1873, Henrik Ibsen, Kærlighedens komedie, page 112:

     bøgerne, – dem kan du selv beholde

     The books—you can keep them yourself.

   • 1874, Henrik Ibsen, Peer Gynt, page 12:

     hvor er skæpperne med mynt efter gamle Rasmus Gynt; faer din gav dem fødder, han

     Where are the bushels of coins left by old Rasmus Gynt? Your father gave them legs, he did.

   • 1882, Jonas Lie, Gaa paa!, page 152:

     jeg har velstaaende familje, – om jeg vilde ulejlige dem

     I have well-to-do family—if I cared to trouble them.

   • 1888, Henrik Ibsen, Fruen fra havet, page 214:

     vel kan du holde mig tilbage her! … Men mit sind, – alle mine tanker … dem kan du ikke binde!

     You may keep me here! … But my mind—all my thoughts … you cannot bind them!

   • 1891, Arne Garborg, Trætte Mænd, page 53:

     de, som stjæler i stort, dem faar man uvilkaarlig en vis agtelse for

     Those who steal on a grand scale—one cannot help feeling a certain respect for them.

   • 1896, Henrik Ibsen, John Gabriel Borkman, page 7:

     [det var] bare nogen penge – eller nogen papirer, – som det gik ud over for dem. Men for os –!

     [It was] only some money—or some papers—that were lost in their case. But for us—!

   • 1918, Gunnar Heiberg, Samlede dramatiske verker, volume III, page 276:

     alle har set mine horn og jeg har dem ikke

     Everyone has seen my horns, and I do not have them.

   • 1992, Per Thomas Andersen, Arr, page 148:

     […] min svoger sa seg villig til å følge dem

     […] my brother-in-law agreed to accompany them.

2. those; the object form of demonstrative de, often followed by a phrase or relative clause identifying the people or things concerned.

   Jeg vil heller ha dem som ligger øverst. ― I would rather have those on top.

   • 1882, Henrik Ibsen, En folkefiende, page 50:

     det er alle de rige, alle dem med de gamle ansete navne i byen … som styrer og råder over os

     It is all the rich, all those with the old respected names in town … who govern and rule over us.

   • 1882, Alexander Kielland, Skipper Worse, page 15:

     anskuelser og ideer, vidt forskjellige fra dem, med hvilke der arbeides i den tarvelige by

     Views and ideas very different from those with which people work in the modest town.

   • 1896, Lorentz Dietrichson, Svundne Tider, volume I, page 92:

     dem, der har anledning til at læse P.A. Jensens … optegnelser, vil jeg bede om unskyldning

     I would ask those who have the opportunity to read P. A. Jensen's … notes to excuse me.

   • 1904, Hans E. Kinck, Emigranter, page 35:

     hun var av dem som snakked slæbende

     She was one of those who spoke with a drawl.

   • 2004, Bertrand Besigye, Svastikastjernen, page 159:

     […] dem som forgifter den

     […] those who poison it

3. (dialectal) they; used as the subject pronoun corresponding to standard de.

   I morgen kommer dem. ― They are coming tomorrow.

   • 1918, Halfdan Kjerulf, edited by Wladimir Moe, Av hans efterladte papirer 1847–1868, page 240:

     svenskerne er da som besatte ianledning af statholderen, som vi dræbte. Men dem faar taale det

     The Swedes are quite beside themselves over the governor whom we killed off. But they will have to put up with it.

4. (obsolete) whom, which; a plural relative pronoun, chiefly introducing a supplementary relative clause, used as an object or after a preposition.

   Han skrev flere brev, dem jeg siden brente. ― He wrote several letters, which I later burned.

   • 1882, Alexander Kielland, Skipper Worse, page 66:

     [han kunne] ikke mer end fire eller fem skriftsteder udenad, dem han anvendte som det kunde falde sig

     [He knew] no more than four or five passages of Scripture by heart, which he used as occasion arose.

   • 1916, Tryggve Andersen, Samlede fortællinger, volume I, page 132:

     fra gangen hørtes drukkent spektakel fra kontoristerne og opvarterkonerne, til dem nyheden endnu ikke var kommet

     Drunken uproar could be heard from the clerks and serving women in the corridor, to whom the news had not yet come.

   • 1923, Henrik Wergeland, “For Almuen. Andet Hefte”, in Samlede skrifter‎^[8], volume IV,1:

     […] og saaledes flere Tegn til Lidelser, dem de Lidende eller Klagende selv fordetmeste foranledige sig.

     […] and thus further signs of sufferings which the sufferers or complainants mostly bring upon themselves.

Usage notes

• In standard written Bokmål, de is normally the subject form and dem the object form, including after prepositions. Dialectal subject dem is also represented in literature.
• Both de and dem are accepted in certain predicative, comparative, existential and cleft constructions, such as Det var de/dem (“It was them”) and Hun er eldre enn de/dem (“She is older than them”).
• When de(m) som … functions as an object or follows a preposition, both forms are accepted, although Språkrådet recommends dem. This also applies when som is omitted. When the whole phrase is the subject of the main clause, use de.
• The polite second-person form Dem (“you”) is capitalized and has a separate entry.

See also

Norwegian Bokmål personal pronouns

Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	Possessive
					masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
Singular	First	–	jeg	meg	min	mi	mitt	mine
	Second	general	du	deg	din	di	ditt	dine
		formal (rare)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	masculine (person)	han	ham / han	hans
		feminine (person)	hun	henne	hennes
		masculine (noun)	den		dens
		feminine (noun)
		neuter (noun)	det		dets
		reflexive	–	seg	sin	si	sitt	sine
Plural	First	–	vi	oss	vår		vårt	våre
	Second	general	dere		deres
		formal (very rare)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	general	de	dem	deres
		reflexive	–	seg	sin	si	sitt	sine

Determiner

dem

1. (dialectal) those; used before a plural noun in place of demonstrative de.

   Jeg kjenner dem folka der. ― I know those people there.

   • 1975, Gunnar Bull Gundersen, Unnskyld hvis jeg forstyrrer, page 59:

     […] dem folka der oppe […]

     […] those people up there […]

   • 1976, Torfinn Haukås, Svindlere, page 139:

     […] dem grisene […]

     […] those pigs […]

Article

dem

1. (dialectal) the; the plural definite article before an adjective or other modifier, corresponding to standard de.

   Jeg liker dem gamle husa. ― I like the old houses.

   • 1911, Amalie Pettersen, Pettersens, page 119:

     dem skotske rampeguttene skulde hat faddeleg juling, saan som dem frækket sig

     The Scottish rascals ought to have had a terrible beating, the way they behaved so cheekily.

   • 1952, Torborg Nedreaas, De varme hendene, page 199:

     […] dem andre butikkene

     […] the other shops

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

dem

1. imperative of demme (“to dam up; to stem”)

References

• “de” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “de” in Norwegian Academy Dictionary (NAOB).

Anagrams

• Dem, med

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German dem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛm/

Article

dem (definite)

1. dative masculine/neuter singular of der: the

Declension

	singular				plural
	m	f	n
nominative	der	die	es		die
dative	dem, em	der	dem, em		de
accusative	der, den	die	es		die

Pitcairn-Norfolk

Etymology

From English them.

Pronoun

dem

1. them

References

• Speak Norfolk Today: an Encyclopaedia of the Norfolk Island Language, by Alice Buffett, 1999.

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɔmː/, (Finland Swedish) /ˈdɛmː/
• (Standard Swedish) Homophone: de
• Rhymes: -ɔmː, -ɛmː

Pronoun

dem (third-person plural)

1. them; accusative/dative of de

   De ser dem

   They see them

2. misspelling of de

Usage notes

In most dialects, de (“they”) and dem (“them”) are no longer distinguished in speech. They are regularly mixed up in writing by native speakers, due to lack of grammatical intuition. The article de is often mixed up with dem as well.

Declension

Swedish personal pronouns

Number	Person		nominative	oblique	possessive
					common	neuter	plural
singular	first	—	jag	mig, mej3	min	mitt	mina
	second	—	du	dig, dej3	din	ditt	dina
	third	masculine (person)	han	honom, han2, en5	hans
		feminine (person)	hon	henne, na5	hennes
		gender-neutral (person)1	hen	hen, henom7	hens
		common (noun)	den	den	dess
		neuter (noun)	det	det	dess
		indefinite	man or en4	en	ens
		reflexive	—	sig, sej3	sin	sitt	sina
plural	first	—	vi	oss	vår, våran2	vårt, vårat2	våra
	second	—	ni	er	er, eran2, ers6	ert, erat2	era
		archaic	I	eder	eder, eders6	edert	edra
	third	—	de, dom3	dem, dom3	deras
		reflexive	—	sig, sej3	sin	sitt	sina

¹Neologism. Usage has increased since 2010, though it remains limited.

²Informal

³Colloquial pronunciation spelling.

⁴Dialectal, also used lately as an alternative to man, to avoid association to the male gender.

⁵Informal, somewhat dialectal

⁶Formal address

⁷Discouraged by the Swedish Language Council

See also

• dom

Article

dem

1. misspelling of de

Anagrams

• med, med.

Turkish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdem/

Etymology 1

From Old Turkic [script needed] (tam-), from Proto-Turkic *tem- (“to drip”).

Noun

dem

1. dew

Etymology 2

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish دم (dem), from Persian دم (dam).

Noun

dem

(obsolete, poetic)

1. breath
2. moment
4. (Bektashism) wine, raki

1. brew (of tea, as opposed to water boiled to be added when pouring to dilute it)

   Bana sırf deminden koy. ― Pour me only the tea's brew.

Synonyms

• (breath): soluk
• (moment): an

Etymology 3

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish دم, from Arabic دَم (dam).

Noun

dem

1. (obsolete, poetic) blood

Synonyms

• kan

Wolof

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

dem

1. to go

Conjugation

Conjugation of dem

	present	imperfect	pluperfect	future
1st person singular	damay dem	dama doon dem	demoon naa	dinaa dem
2nd person singular	dangay dem	danga doon dem	demoon nga	dinga dem
3rd person singular	dafay dem	dafa doon dem	demoon na	dina dem
1st person plural	dañuy dem	dañu doon dem	demoon nañu	dinañu dem
2nd person plural	dangeen dem	dangeen doon dem	demoon ngeen	dingeen dem
3rd person plural	deñuy dem	deñu doon dem	demoon nañu	dinañu dem
	imperative
singular	demal!
plural	demleen!

References

Omar Ka (2018), Nanu Dégg Wolof, National African Language Resource Center, →ISBN, page 100

Zazaki

Etymology

Related to Northern Kurdish dem.

Noun

dem

1. time

Zhuang

Etymology

From Chinese 添 (MC them).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /teːm˨˦/
• Tone numbers: dem¹
• Hyphenation: dem

Verb

dem (Sawndip form 𣷹, 1957–1982 spelling dem)

1. to add

Adverb

dem (1957–1982 spelling dem)

1. still; yet

Derived terms

• dem gyaeuj dem rieng