1

I had this sentence which was a bit difficult for me to understand at first because of the name + 他们. I understand it now.

郭高林他们决心用实际行动证明自己。

My questions is, can I write it like this:

郭高林 的 他们决心用实际行动证明自己。

2 Answers 2

5

No; in this context 的 is acting as a possessive, e.g. "我的心" means "my heart", and "郭高林的心" means "Guo Gaolin's heart".

他们 means "they" or "them", so it makes no sense to possess this.

The phrase 郭高林他们 means something like "Guo Gaolin et al." or "Guo Gaolin and co." Note no possessives.

Instead, if you want to use 的 you would have to transform the phrase into a possessive, for example 郭高林的小组 (Guo Gaolin's group) or 郭高林的团伙 (Guo Gaolin's team).

1
  • Another example from my dictionary: 老王他们不愿意去。 Lao Wang’s lot don’t want to go. Feb 23, 2015 at 5:26
1

的 should not be use between name and 他们。 When you use name + 他们, it means the name you mentioned is a member in the group of people.

While the expression '郭高林+的+他们' represents 他们 is owned by 郭高林.

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.