Pronouns
5.2
When a specifier 这/這 zhè, zhèi ‘this/these,’ 那 nà, nèi ‘that/those,’ or the question specifier
哪 nǎ, něi ‘which’ modifies the noun, it also must be followed by a classifier or number +
classifier. If the number is ‘one,’ the number may be omitted.
这(一)本书 那两本书 哪三本书？
這(一)本書 那兩本書 哪三本書？
zhè (yì) běn shū nà liǎng běn shū nǎ sān běn shū?
this book those two books which three books?
C 7
A small number of common nouns referring to people can be suffixed with -们/們 men, the
suffix that also marks the plural form of pronouns (see section 5.2 below).
同志们/同志們 tóngzhìmen comrades
孩子们/孩子們 háizimen children
学生们/學生們 xuéshengmen students
This use of -们/們 men with common nouns is relatively rare. It conveys a sense of inclusion
and is sometimes used when addressing an audience.
同学们，今天我们听马老师作的报告。
同學們，今天我們聽馬老師作的報告。
Tóngxuémen, jīntiān wǒmen tīng Mǎ lǎoshī zuò de bàogào.
Fellow students, today we are going to listen to a report by teacher Ma.
When a noun is suffixed with -们/們 men it cannot be further modified with any kind of
modifying phrase, including a number + classifier phrase.
Say this Not this
我们的同学 *我们的同学们
我們的同學 我們的同學們
wǒmen de tóngxué wǒmen de tóngxuémen
our fellow students
三个孩子 *三个孩子们
三個孩子 三個孩子們
sān gè háizi sān gè háizimen
three children
C 9
5.2 Pronouns
Mandarin has first, second, and third person pronouns and a reflexive pronoun.
Mandarin pronouns have the following properties:
- Pronouns are not distinguished in terms of grammatical role. The same pronouns are used
for subject, object, possession, etc.
- Pronouns have singular and plural forms. The suffix -们/們 men is added to the singular
form to make it the plural form.
- Gender is not reflected in the spoken language. The written language has distinctions for
the second and third person pronouns, though only the third person gender distinction is
commonly used.
