Chinese word

你

Pronunciation

Pinyinnǐ

Meaning

  • pronounyou

Example

你叫什么名字？nǐ jiào shén me míng zì

What is your name?

Illustration for 你 (you)

More examples

请问，你在吗？qǐng wèn nǐ zài ma

Excuse me, are you there?

Core concept

The one person on the other side of a conversation.

Common phrases

  • 你叫什么名字？nǐ jiào shén me míng zì

    What is your name?

  • 你好吗？ní hǎo ma

    How are you?

  • 你是学生吗？nǐ shì xué shēng ma

    Are you a student?

Similar words

我wǒ: A first-person pronoun for referring to the person speaking.
他tā: A third-person pronoun for referring to a man or a person of unknown gender.
你们nǐ men: A second-person pronoun for addressing two or more people.
您nín: A respectful second-person pronoun used to address one person politely.

Definition in Chinese

用来称呼听话人的第二人称代词，指单个对方，常与其他人称词（如您、你们）区分使用。yòng lái chēng hū tīng huà rén de dì èr rén chēng dài cí zhǐ dān gè duì fāng cháng yǔ qí tā rén chēng cí rú nín nǐ men qū fēn shǐ yòng

Word origin

The modern character 你 (nǐ, "you") uses 亻 (rén, "person") for the human meaning and 尔 (ěr, "you") as the sound-bearing part, continuing an older second-person form.

Usage tips

  • English uses you for both one person and a group, while Chinese marks the difference in its pronoun forms, making number an important pattern to notice early.

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word