Chinese pronouns
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There are seven basic Chinese pronouns in Vernacular Chinese:
| Person | Characters | Pronunciation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | 我 | Pronounced wǒ | Expresses "I", "me", etc. |
| Second | 你, 妳 | Both pronounced nǐ | Expresses "you", etc., masculine and feminine, respectively |
| Third | 他, 她, 牠, 它 | All pronounced tā | Expresses "he" / "she" / "it [animate]" / "it [inanimate]", respectively. |
Originally, Chinese had no distinction for gender in the second- and third-person pronouns, and no distinction for animacy in the third-person either. In fact, in the spoken language, they remain undifferentiated. These characters were created in response to contact with the West and its gender- and animacy-indicating pronouns. (Even now, it is not unusual for native Chinese speakers to fail to differentiate between "he" and "she" in English.)
The difference between 你 and 妳 is not always maintained in writing, but the distinction between 他 and 她 is. 牠 is supposed to be used for nouns referring to animals (note the 牛 radical, which means ox) and 它 for inanimate objects, but this distinction is sometimes blurred. In Simplified Chinese, 妳 and 牠 are both antiquated.
The collective pronouns are formed by simply adding 们 / 們 mén to the end of each pronoun; thus, 你们, 我们, 咱们, 他/她/牠/它们 or 你們, 我們, 他/她/牠/它們 would mean "you [plural]", "we" and "they" respectively. To indicate the Christian God in writing, 祂 is used.
The pronoun 您 nín is used as a formal version of the second person pronoun, but does not have a feminine variant, and is not used in the plural.
There exist many more pronouns in Classical Chinese and in literary works, although the ones listed above are the most common in colloquial speech.
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The Possessive Pronoun
To indicate possession 的 (de) is appended to the pronoun. In literature or in some daily phrases (especially ones about family or concepts very close to the owner) this is often omitted, e.g. 我妈/我媽 (wǒ mā); is a synonym for 我的妈妈/我的媽媽 (wǒ de māmā, "my mother").
The Reflexive Pronoun
The singular personal pronouns (for humans) may be made reflexive by appending 自己 zějǐ, "self".
Pronouns in Imperial Times and Self-Depreciatory
In imperial times, the pronoun for "I" is commonly omitted when speaking politely or to someone with higher social status. "I" is usually replaced with special pronouns to address specific situations. Examples include 寡人 guǎrén during early Chinese history and 朕 zhčn after the Qin dynasty.
Inclusive and Exclusive
In Chinese, for the first person plural there are usually two forms:
- 咱们 / 咱們 zánmen — the inclusive (i.e. "you and I", "we, including you")
- 我们 / 我們 wǒmen — the exclusive (i.e. "we, without you").
This distinction is not rigorously maintained by many speakers outside of the Beijing region, the tendency being to generalize the use of 我们.