Chinese pronouns

There are seven basic Chinese pronouns:

• 我 wo3 (1st sing.)
• 你,妳 ni3, ni3 (2nd sing. for masculine/feminine respectively)
• 他,她,牠,它 ta1, ta1, ta1, ta1 (3rd sing. for he/she/it [animate]/it [inanimate] respectively).

The difference between 你 and 妳 is not always maintained. The distinction between 他 and 她 is usually maintained. 牠 is supposed to be used for all animals (note the 牛 radical) and 它 for inanimate objects, but this distinction is sometimes blurred. In Simplified Chinese, 妳 & 牠 are no longer used.

The plural pronouns are formed by simply adding "们 / 們" men to the end of each pronoun; thus, 你们,我们,他/她/牠/它们, or 你們,我們,他/她/牠/它們 would mean you plural, we and they respectively.

The pronoun 您 nin2 is used as a formal version of the second person pronoun, and does not occur in a feminine or plural form, so 您们 / 您們 do not exist.

As can be seen above, all pronouns for the second person are pronounced identically, and the same for the third person; the orthographic distinctions were only introduced after Westernizing influences came into China.

Table of contents

1 The Possesive Pronoun 2 The Reflexive Pronoun 3 Pronouns in Imperial Times

The Possesive Pronoun

To indicate possession, "的" is appended to the pronoun. In literature or in some daily phrases this is often omitted, e.g., 我妈 is a synonym for 我的妈妈 ("my mom").

The Reflexive Pronoun

The singular personal pronouns (for humans) may be made reflexive by appending 自己.

Pronouns in Imperial Times

In imperial times, the pronoun for "I" is commonly ommitted when speaking politely or to someone with higher social status. "I" is usually replaced with special pronouns to address specific situations.

See also:

• Chinese grammar
• Chinese language