Thursday, June 9, 2011

Pronouns

In Chinese language there are three basic pronouns:
  • I, me - wǒ -
  • You - nǐ -
  • He, Him / She, Her / It – tā – //
The plural form is formed by adding the syllable "们" (men) at the end of the pronoun:
  • we, us - wǒ men - 我们
  • you - nǐ men - 你们
  • they, them - tā men - 他们
When speaking to an elderly or senior person during a conversation, it is more polite to address them formally with "您" (nín) instead of "你" ()

He, she and it all have the same pronunciation and same sound: tā, but the character is different;
  • he - 他
  • she - 她
  • it - 它
So in spoken Chinese or Mandarin, the context of the sentence or the conversation usually tells you whether the speaker is referring to aman, a woman or a thing.