Definitions

he

[hee, ee] / hi, i /

PRONOUN

nominative singular pronoun

Synonyms

STRONGEST

I it she sie they ve xe you ze zie

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a synonym for he?

We don’t traditionally think of he as having synonyms, but there are some situations in which it can be reworded or replaced with another word or phrase. he himself Sometimes, the phrase he himself is used to emphasize that a person did something entirely by himself or that it was done by him as opposed to others. For example, saying He cast the deciding vote may be a neutral statement, but saying He himself cast the deciding vote indicates that there was some significance to the fact that it was he who did it. him Sometimes a sentence can be reworded to replace the subject he with the equivalent object him. For example, the question “When do you expect he will arrive?” could be reworded as “When do you expect him to arrive?” In this case, it’s a more natural-sounding question, but this kind of rewording can be done for a number of reasons. Him is also commonly used after linking verbs (like is and was) in sentences like It was him that I saw on the train or It is him in that picture.

What can you use instead of the word he?

He is used to stand in for more specific words, like Dr. Harris, Jacob, or the pilot. So, if there’s a chance that using he might be confusing (such as when more than one man is mentioned in the sentence), you can always use the name or title of the person instead of referring to him as he. Take this sentence, for example: “If we invite Mr. Smith’s son, do you think he would come?” The he in this sentence could refer to Mr. Smith or his son, so it may be more clear to reword it as: “If we invite Mr. Smith’s son, do you think his son would come?” (or by replacing he with Mr. Smith, if that’s what you mean). Of course, there are a number of other ways to say this, including using a specific name. In some situations, it can be considered impolite to refer to someone as he or him when that person is in your presence—especially when you haven’t already acknowledged them or addressed them by name. To avoid this, it’s always best to refer to a person by name, especially when it’s the first time you’re referring to them.

Is he a pronoun?

He is a personal pronoun. Pronouns are used as substitutes for nouns—they’re another way of referring to a noun without using a specific name. Personal pronouns are used to refer to the speaker, to the person being addressed, or the person being talked about. He is categorized as a third person pronoun (like she, they, him, her, and them), meaning it’s used to refer to anyone other than the person doing the communicating or the people being addressed. In contrast, first person pronouns (like I and me) refer to the speaker or writer themselves, and the second person pronoun you is used to address the person being spoken to or reading. He is used as a subject. Its object counterpart is him.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

he hes they him them his their theirs

AI is actually more likely to deepen dependence on those platforms, he wrote.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

While it’s a significant upgrade on paper, it’d be challenging to commercialize given uniformity issues during mass production, he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

This time, he didn’t need nearly as many words.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has told MPs that he will push for new post-Brexit deals with the EU at a summit next month.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

But when he was a young man studying medicine in Paris, Bigelow was a snappy dresser.

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman

“But clearly there’s problems—problems that are still here from 4 years ago. Simply put, hes not it.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025

She – there are hes, but the disciples I’ve spotted in the wild are predominantly female – is deaf to criticism, immune to self-doubt, ready to spring to action.

From The Guardian ● May 16, 2018

The suspect had given up his rights of protection if hes threatening those same rights of others.

From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2018

Maybe hes a cipher in the sense that hes a symbol.

From Salon ● Mar. 9, 2014

From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire. . . . mother of dragons, slayer of hes .

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

The biggest shortages are expected in advanced logic chips, chip packaging, semiconductor equipment, Ajinomoto Build-up Film substrates, high-end copper-clad laminate materials, high-bandwidth memory, and high-speed optical components, they add.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

When they upset the Seattle Seahawks two weeks ago, Johnson took to his keyboard to congratulate the team, tweeting a photo of himself in a luxury box.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

There’s a tendency to think that, because one has had any success at all, be it a musical callback or a greenlit freelance piece or a short story selected for publication, that they know best.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

Winter capacity cuts should further support the supply-demand balance and fares in short-haul, they say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

They study enemy troops from the relative safety of their homes and write down as much information as they can.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Daniel, a team member at Shoppers True Value Hardware, sleeps on the job, leaves food lying around and lets his co-workers clean up after him.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Yet, a last-second mental lapse Sunday by one of the five professional sports franchises Johnson co-owns prompted him to tweet the equivalent of a distress signal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

In a quote from his notes, he outlined how a senior figure in the RUC told him they had extra resources on standby in case of a bombing.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

The 11-day official trip from November 6-17 will see him visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

Strength seems to have drained right out of him.

From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Drug companies test medications to heal people, not kill them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

The Chargers’ Justin Herbert fumbles the ball and throws an interception in the fourth quarter of a 23-17 loss to the Denver Broncos that drops them to 0-5.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

Federal officials have not publicly presented evidence substantiating them.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

Part of the problem has been that England have often come up against weaker opposition that sit in a low block and they have found it hard to break them down.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

When that happens, she closes the eyes of the dead and prays for them.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Reitzes has a $275 price target for Arista shares, noting that Arista could be the biggest beneficiary under his coverage if Google’s spending numbers are higher than expected.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

During the heat of their federal antitrust trial in 2024, Albertsons’ then-CEO Vivek Sankaran called his counterpart at Kroger with a last-ditch request to help ease regulators’ concerns, according to the filing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Tobey Maguire closed off one chapter of his love life by helping ex-wife Jennifer Meyer enter a new one.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

This is the brilliant way writer-director Jesse Eisenberg thrusts us into his third — and best — feature, “The Debut,” screening at this year’s New York Film Festival and premiering in theaters December 11.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

During this time, Joey receives stacks of letters, including one from Father Julien, who remembers the woman in black who tried to rescue his diary years ago.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Broadcom shares are down 27% from their highs earlier this year, as investors worry that Google is bringing in other suppliers for its TPUs.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

Investors are likely to stay shy of luxury stocks until brands can show firmer acceleration in their top lines, analysts at Bank of America wrote recently.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

The exes married in 2007 and announced their separation in 2016.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

Drug manufacturers have refused to sell their products for executions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

When the officers take her and a group of other women on a tour of their fortified campus, she asks question after question, memorizing all she learns.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

“There’s no sense in them buying a car when they could rent one for a few hundred bucks, and it’s theirs forever.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026

Or is theirs simply a shared passion for what cannot be?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

That’s your issue to grapple with — not theirs.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

Nick Robinson has a conversation with, not an interrogation of, the people who shape our political thinking about what shaped theirs.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

It drizzled a little, shone a little, blew a little, and didn’t make up its mind till it was too late for anyone else to make up theirs.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

Vocabulary lists containing he

Scrabble: Two-Letter Words

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he

Frequently Asked Questions

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Related Words

Vocabulary lists containing he

Scrabble: Two-Letter Words