Chinese pronouns

Chinese pronouns (known as 代词 dàicí) differ somewhat from their English counterparts. For instance, there is no differentiation in the spoken language between "he", "she" and "it" (though a written difference was introduced after contact with the West), and pronouns remain the same whether they are the subject or object of a sentence. Mandarin Chinese further lacks a distinction between the possessive adjective ("my") and possessive pronoun ("mine"); both are formed by appending the particle 的 de. Some honorifics exist in the language, but modern Chinese, especially in the spoken language, lacks the levels of respect of Japanese.

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns

Person	Singular				Plural*
First person	我 wǒ I, me				Exclusive		Inclusive†
					我们 wǒmen we, us		咱们 zánmen we, us
Second person	Informal		Formal		你们 nǐmen you
	你 nǐ you		您 nín you
Third person	他/她/它 tā s/he, him, her‡				他们/她们/它们 tāmen they, them‡

* The character to indicate plurality is 們 (men) in Traditional Chinese characters.

^†Used to indicate 'you and I' (two people) only; in all other cases wǒmen is used. This form has fallen into disuse outside Beijing, and may be a Manchu influence.

^‡In written Chinese, a distinction between masculine human 他 (he, him), feminine human 她 (she, her), and non-human 它 (it) [and similarly in the plural] was introduced in the early 20th century under European influence. This distinction does not exist in the spoken language, where moreover tā is restricted to animate reference; inanimate entities are usually referred to with demonstrative pronouns for 'this' and 'that'.

A second-person pronoun 祢 mí is sometimes used for addressing deities.

The first-person pronouns 俺 ǎn and 偶 ǒu "I" are often used in Mandarin. They are of dialectal origin, once spoken by the stereotypical countryside commoner. However, their usage is gaining popularity among the young, most notably in online communications. There are many other pronouns in other Chinese languages, such as Taiwanese Minnan 汝 (pinyin: rǔ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lín) "you" and Written Cantonese 佢哋 (keúih deih) "they".

Traditional Chinese characters maintain several pronouns that in simplified Characters have been merged together. The traditional system has both masculine and feminine forms of "you" (你 and 妳), although this distinction is not always maintained in writing anymore; in the simplified system, 妳 is rare. The traditional system also has three neuter third-person pronouns, 牠 (tā) for animals, 祂 for deities, and 它 for inanimate objects, but, again, this distinction is sometimes blurred in actual usage; in simplified Chinese, 它 is used in place of 牠.

There exist many more pronouns in Classical Chinese and in literary works, including 汝 (rǔ) or 爾 (ěr) for "you", and 吾 (wú) for "I" (see Chinese honorifics). However, they are not encountered in colloquial speech.

The possessive pronoun

To indicate alienable possession, 的 (de) is appended to the pronoun. For inalienable possession, such as family and entities very close to the owner, this is omitted, e.g. 我妈/我媽 (wǒ mā). For older generations, 令 (ling) is the equivalent modern form 您的 (ninde), as in 令尊 (lingzun) "Your father." In literary style, 其 (qí) is sometimes used for "his" or "her"; e.g., 其父 means "his father" or "her father".

In regards to dialectals, in Taiwanese Minnan the character for "your" is 恁 (pinyin: rèn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lín); although this would be pronounced the same as the personal pronoun 汝 lín, it is represented by a different character when used as the equivalent of 你的 in Standard Chinese.

The reflexive pronoun

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

Demonstrative pronouns

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Pronouns in imperial times

See also Chinese honorifics.

In imperial times, the pronoun for "I" was commonly omitted when speaking politely or to someone with higher social status.^{[citation needed]} "I" was usually replaced with special pronouns to address specific situations.^{[citation needed]} Examples include 寡人 guǎrén during early Chinese history and 朕 zhèn after the Qin dynasty when the Emperor is speaking to his subjects. When the subjects speak to the Emperor, they address themselves as 臣 (chén), or "your official". It was extremely impolite and taboo to address the Emperor as "you" or to address oneself as "I".

In modern times, the practice of self-deprecatory terms is still used in specific formal situations. In résumés, the term 贵/貴 (guì; lit. noble) is used for "you" and "your"; e.g., 贵公司/貴公司 refers to "your company". 本人 (běn rén; lit. this person) is used to refer to oneself.

See also

• Chinese grammar
• Chinese language

Bibliography

• Kane, Daniel (2006). The Chinese Language: Its History and Usage. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle. ISBN 0804838534. OCLC 77522617. 
• Sun, Chaofen (2006). Chinese: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 166–169. ISBN 0521823803. OCLC 70671780. 
• Yip, Po-Ching; Rimmington, Don (2004). Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar. London; New York: Routledge. pp. 47–58. ISBN 9780415150316. OCLC 52178249.