Lesson 6: The Complete Guide to Chinese Pronouns
Imagine if you have to mention the ‘noun’ again and again in a text:
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. Angelina Jolie was born in California. Angelina Jolie has received several big awards…
How is it? Sounds monotonous right?
In this case, we should replace the ‘noun’ with ‘pronoun’, to avoid unnecessarily repeating the same noun over and over in a paragraph. Let’s see:
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She was born in California. She has received several big awards…
This is certainly better than the previous one!
Chinese pronouns can be divided into several categories: personal pronouns, object pronouns, possessive pronouns, possessive adjectives, reflexive pronouns, indefinite pronouns, and demonstrative pronouns.
Personal Pronouns
Singular Personal Pronouns
English Chinese Pinyin
I 我 Wǒ
You 你 Nǐ
You (courteous) 您 Nín
He 他 Tā
She 她 Tā
It 它 Tā
Plural Personal Pronouns
Singular Personal Pronoun + 们
English Chinese Pinyin
We 我们 Wǒ men
You (plural) 你们 Nǐ men
You (courteous)There is no 您们 (nín men) in Chinese
They (in general) 他们 Tā men
They (for females) 她们 Tā men
They (for inanimate objects) 它们 Tā men
Example：
她 很 快乐。
Tā hěn kuài lè.
She is happy.
Object Pronouns
Singular Object Pronouns
English Chinese Pinyin
Me 我 Wǒ
You 你 Nǐ
You (courteous) 您 Nín
Him 他 Tā
Her 她 Tā
It 它 Tā
Plural Object Pronouns
Singular Object Pronoun + 们
English Chinese Pinyin
Us 我们 Wǒ men
You (plural) 你们 Nǐ men
You (courteous)There is no 您们 (nín men) in Chinese
Them (in general) 他们 Tā men
Them (for females) 她们 Tā men
Them (for inanimate objects) 它们 Tā men
Example:
可以 帮 我 吗?
Kěyǐ bāng wǒ ma?
Can you help me?
Possessive Adjectives
Personal Pronoun + 的
English Chinese Pinyin
My 我的 Wǒ de
Your 你的 Nǐ de
Your (courteous) 您的 Nín de
His 他的 Tā de
Hers 她的 Tā de
Its 它的 Tā de
Our 我们的 Wǒ men de
Your (plural) 你们的 Nǐ men de
Your (courteous, plural)There is no 您们的 (nín men de) in Chinese
Their (in general) 他们的 Tā men de
Their (for females) 她们的 Tā men de
Their (for inanimate objects) 它们的 Tā men de
Example:
他的书。
Tā de shū.
His book.
Possessive Pronouns
Personal Pronoun + 的
English Chinese Pinyin
Mine 我的 Wǒ de
Yours 你的 Nǐ de
Yours (courteous) 您的 Nín de
His 他的 Tā de
Hers 她的 Tā de
Its 它的 Tā de
Ours 我们的 Wǒ men de
Yours (plural) 你们的 Nǐ men de
Yours (courteous, plural)There is no 您們的 (nín men de) in Chinese
Theirs (in general) 他们的 Tā men de
Theirs (for females) 她们的 Tā men de
Theirs (for inanimate objects) 它们的 Tā men de
Example:
这 是 我们 的。
Zhè shì wǒ men de.
This is ours.
Reflexive Pronouns
Personal Pronoun + 自己
English Chinese Pinyin
Myself 我自己 Wǒ zì jǐ
Yourself 你自己 Nǐ zì jǐ
Yourself (courteous) 您自己 Nín zì jǐ
Himself 他自己 Tā zì jǐ
Herself 她自己 Tā zì jǐ
Itself 它自己 Tā zì jǐ
Ourselves 我们自己 Wǒ men zì jǐ
Yourselves (plural) 你们自己 Nǐ men zì jǐ
Yourselves (courteous, plural)There is no 您们自己 (nín men zì jǐ) in Chinese
Themselves (in general) 他们自己 Tā men zì jǐ
Themselves (for females) 她们自己 Tā men zì jǐ
Themselves (for inanimate objects) 它们自己 Tā men zì jǐ
Example:
别 害 了 你 自己。
Bié hài le nǐ zìjǐ。
Don’t hurt yourself.
Indefinite Pronouns
English Chinese Pinyin
Everyone 大家, 每个人, 所有人 Dàjiā, měi gèrén, suǒyǒurén
Everything 所有事情, 每个东西 suǒyǒu shìqíng, měi gè dōngxī
Someone 有些人，有人 mǒu xiē rén, yǒu rén
Something 一些东西，有些事情 yīxiē dōngxī, yǒuxiē shìqíng
Anyone 任何人 rènhé rén
Anything 任何东西，任何事情 rènhé dōngxī, rènhé shìqíng
No one 没有人 méiyǒu rén
Nothing 没有东西，没有事情 méiyǒu dōngxī, méiyǒu shìqíng
Example：
没 有 人 来。
Méi yǒu rén lái.
No one is coming.
Demonstrative Pronouns
English Chinese Pinyin
This 这 zhè
That 那 nà
This one 这个 zhège
These 这些 zhèxiē
That one 那个 nàge
Those 那些 nàxiē
Example:
这 些 都 很 好。
Zhè xiē dōu hěn hǎo.
These are all very good.
