Questions tagged [pronouns]

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1 vote
1 answer
40 views

Adding 你, 你們, 您 after interjections

So I've noticed that for 謝謝 and 歡迎, it is common to put 你 or another 2nd person pronoun afterwards, though it's not required. 謝謝 vs 謝謝妳 歡迎到佛蒙特 vs 歡迎你們到佛蒙特 I'm assuming that because these expressions ...
1 vote
1 answer
59 views

Pronoun for human babies in Mandarin?

In English we can use the impersonal pronoun "it" for babies: She gave birth to a baby, but unfortunately it died to illness shortly after What pronouns are appropriate to use in Chinese? ...
13 votes
4 answers
17k views

Differences between 咱们 and 我们?

我们 [wǒmen] and 咱们 [zánmen] both means: we, but when I should use 咱们, 我们? What is the difference?
5 votes
11 answers
2k views

Can I say 爸, or do I have to say 爸爸?

I will find that 爸 (bà) is father if I look it up in a dictionary, but I've never heard anyone say that or 媽, only 爸爸 and 媽媽. But can I still say just 爸?
12 votes
7 answers
2k views

How gender specific in writing is the character 他

A couple of years ago I wrote this comment below an answer: On mainland China 他 is used for both male and female. I've only seen 她 used as a stylistic thing for advertising and some old formal ...
9 votes
2 answers
274 views

Are any of these honorifics still in use today? 愚, 鄙, 敝, 卑, 窃, 仆, 婢, 妾, 在下, 贱妾, 小人, 小女, 草民, 民女, 奴才, 奴婢, 奴家

Are any of these honorifics still in use today? If not, might they be used and understood (as a joke) by regular Chinese in, say, a period film, much as English speakers would recognize someone using ...
7 votes
6 answers
1k views

Why in Chinese Bible (和合本), "you" was translated as "你" instead of "您"?

For example, in 詩 篇 Psalms: 102:1 〔 困 苦 人 發 昏 的 時 候 、 在 耶 和 華 面 前 吐 露 苦 情 的 禱 告 。 〕 耶 和 華 阿 、 求 你 聽 我 的 禱 告 、 容 我 的 呼 求 達 到 你 面 前 。 102:2 我 在 急 難 的 日 子 、 求 你 向 我 側 耳 、 不 要 向 我 掩 面 . 我 呼 求 ...
2 votes
2 answers
127 views

Is there an old way of pronouncing 牠?

Is there an old way of pronouncing 牠? I remember learning to pronounce it as "tuo" when I was in primary school, which was more than 40 years ago. I know it is pronounced as "ta" ...
2 votes
1 answer
131 views

About 他 and 她 (regarding the song "break up 分手不分离" by z.tao)

Im curious about a line from the song in using 他 and 她. The said line is [因为我 想知道 她是不是比我好] Isn't 她 supposed to refer to female? The singer is a male so I'm kind of confused (since china is pretty ...
0 votes
1 answer
3k views

Is there a gender neutral pronoun in mandarin? [duplicate]

I am current a high school student and am taking mandarin at school. My teacher and I both identify as non-binary. After all the research I’ve done the closest thing I can find is 它, but from what I ...
0 votes
1 answer
63 views

Is Autumn being referred to by the female pronoun 她? Is this normal?

This is from my 3-rd grade 语文 book (there's a version here): 现在正是金秋时节。我们已经看到了她缤纷的色彩, 听见了她美妙的声音,分享了她带给我们的欢乐。 I translate this to: It's currently Golden Autumn. We already see her diverse (缤纷的) ...
2 votes
1 answer
201 views

When did "妳" become the second person singular feminine pronoun?

In Kangxi Zidian, "妳" is listed as an alternate form of "嬭". "嬭", on the other hand, has three meanings: breasts/milk, mother, and feminine given name. On Zdic.net, there is no classical reference to ...
1 vote
4 answers
330 views

Is there any specifically masculine character for 他

The pronoun 他 (ta1) for he/she/it has been used since at least the Ming dynasty and has had a number of variants, such as 牠 for animals and 祂 for deities. In the 20th century the feminine version 她 ...
0 votes
3 answers
203 views

How can express a sentence containing relative pronoun in Chinese?

I wanted to say "Then I no longer have to listen to the native speaker whose pronunciation I can refer to", but then I realized that I had no idea how to express that sentence in Chinese. How should ...
0 votes
2 answers
389 views

Is it ok to use 他 as a gender neutral personal pronoun (instead of 她) when the subject is known to be female?

Is it ok to use 他 as a gender neutral personal pronoun (as it used to be before 她 was introduced) even if I know that the subject is female? Example: 他是我妹妹 vs 他是我妹妹
4 votes
4 answers
504 views

How do I write "One can ..." / "You can ..." (general personal pronoun) in Chinese?

Which personal pronouns can I use in an instruction in Chinese to replace the English "one" or "you" when used as meaning "you, we or anyone else": Examples in English: "One can always be sure to ...
1 vote
3 answers
685 views

Questions about "本" as Pronoun

One time, I watched a film and noticed a different use of "本". As I know, "本" is generally used as classifiers. But this time, I learned that "本" here used as pronoun. Here's the example I took from ...
1 vote
2 answers
998 views

How can I use 其 properly?

I wonder how I should use 其. To express possessive pronoun, you can use 他的,它的,他们的,etc. So when should I use 其? Can it function as just a replacement for these possessive pronouns? (And I just found ...
3 votes
1 answer
116 views

Translation of "we", pronoun in official company introduction material

I am translating a document that looks like an official introduction of a company maybe to be placed on their website or marketing material. In the document, the first sentence starts with the name ...
2 votes
3 answers
4k views

"that" in Mandarin joining clauses or sentences?

Can someone help me understand how to say "that" in the following uses? Please provide pinyin in your answer, since my characters aren't so good :( He is the one THAT I saw. It's the one THAT I want....
0 votes
4 answers
168 views

How do you use "which" as a relative pronoun?

How do you use "which" as a preposition relative pronoun in chinese? For example, I'm trying to translate: There is a cozy tea sitting area in our shop which is in front of the Campbell's farmers ...
4 votes
4 answers
866 views

How strict is pronoun gender applied in writing

I noticed that my sougou pinyin program doesn't even have 她们的 in the choices, how strict is this gender difference applied in writing, Maybe some specific questions. If I refer to a group of people ...
8 votes
2 answers
1k views

Where is the correct place to use 您 when addressing others?

Almost every foreign text book I've seen mentions 您 as a polite or formal address to others, however I rarely hear it said and rarely see it written except when addressing customers and occasionally ...