What does he mean?
He is the third-person singular masculine pronoun in modern English. It normally refers to a male person who has already been mentioned or is otherwise identifiable, and it can also refer to a male animal. As the subject of a clause, he is followed by a verb such as is, was, said, or went; the corresponding object form is him, the possessive form is his, and the reflexive and emphatic form is himself. Although he has traditionally been treated as specifically masculine, it is generally unsuitable as a gender-neutral pronoun for a person whose gender is unknown or irrelevant, so they or another expression is normally preferred. Informally, he may also be used as a noun for a man or boy, although this use is uncommon in formal writing. These irregular forms distinguish he from pronouns built with a shared ending, making it a basic but linguistically distinctive member of English.
The third-person singular pronoun used to refer to a male person or male animal.
"He lives in the house across the street."
Usually functions as the subject of a clause; the object form is him.
Informally, a male person; a man or boy.
"A couple of the hes were waiting outside."
This noun use is informal and uncommon in formal writing.
The plural hes belongs to the rare informal noun sense of he and is not used for the pronoun.
"Several of the hes offered to help."
English forms his personal pronouns with striking irregularity: he, him, his, and himself have no regular shared ending.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does he come from?
The word descends from Old English hē, the masculine singular pronoun, which developed from the Proto-Germanic form *he. This form belongs to the wider Indo-European demonstrative-pronoun system, which also underlies English words such as this, that, these, and those, although their meanings and grammatical functions have developed differently. Modern related forms survive in languages such as Dutch and the Scandinavian languages, often with altered sound or case patterns.
Related word forms
How he is actually used
He is normally used as the subject of a clause: “He is ready.” Its object form is him, while his is possessive and himself is reflexive or emphatic. Although traditional grammar assigns he a male reference, it is not normally used as a gender-neutral substitute for a person whose gender is unknown or irrelevant; they or another suitable expression is preferred in that situation. In unstressed positions, he may be reduced to /hi/ or /i/.
Easily confused with he
He is the subject form, as in “He called,” whereas him is the object form, as in “I called him.”