13/03/2024
|||||| Pronouns in Chinese ||||||
Mandarin speakers drop pronouns if it’s obvious who they’re talking about. But they are used for emphasis.
As a learner, it’s useful to use the correct pronouns as you speak. This helps you make sure you structure your sentences well.
1. I/me – 我 (wǒ)
There’s also no accusative case. So if you want to say “me” rather than “I”, keep using 我.
2. You – 你 (nǐ)
You’ll see this in 你好 (nǐ hǎo) – “hello”. It’s an informal way to address somebody, so use it when you’re talking in casual, social settings. The more formal form of address is 您 (nín). Use this when you want to show formality, such as in a business setting.
3. He/she/it – these are all pronounced the same – (tā)
You’ll need to guess the meaning from context when listening to someone speaking. In writing though, they have distinct characters – ‘he’ (他) / ‘she’(她) / ‘it’ (它).
For plural pronouns, just add 们 / (men). For example, “us” is 我们 / (wǒ men), and “they” for a male or mixed group is 他们 / tā men. There is no irregularity, such as with “I” and “us”.
If you want to indicate possession, add a 的 / (de) after the pronoun. It is sort of like adding an apostrophe and s in English and it has many uses. This makes it one of the most common Chinese words.
“This” and “that” work exactly the same as in English. You need to know whether the thing you’re talking about is near or far from you. Notice the different plural marker – 些 (xiē).
4. This – 这 (zhè)
Use this when the thing you’re talking about is close to you, or you need to emphasize which of a particular thing you’re talking about.
5. That – 那 (nà)
This basic word will be useful when the thing you’re talking about is not close to you. To make “this” and “that” into their plurals, “these’” and “those”, just add 些 (xiē) afterward. So if you want to talk about the people (人 / rén) over there, you would refer to them as “those people” 那些人 (nà xiē rén).
