Chinese word

它们

Pronunciation

Pinyintā men

Meaning

  • pronounthey

Example

我买了很多玩具，它们都很便宜。wǒ mǎi le hěn duō wán jù tā men dōu hěn pián yi

I bought a lot of toys, and they were all cheap.

Illustration for 它们 (they)

More examples

这些花很漂亮，它们的颜色不同。zhè xiē huā hěn piào liàng tā men de yán sè bù tóng

These flowers are very pretty, and their colors are different.

Core concept

A single pointer that gathers several objects or animals into one group.

Common phrases

  • 它们的名字tā men de míng zì

    their names

  • 它们的颜色tā men de yán sè

    their colors

Similar words

他们tā men: Points to several people when at least one is male.
它tā: Points to one nonhuman object or animal.
这些zhè xiē: Points to several nearby objects or things.

Definition in Chinese

用于指代非人的复数第三人称代词，用来指示前文或眼前的那些物品或动物。yòng yú zhǐ dài fēi rén de fù shù dì sān rén chēng dài cí yòng lái zhǐ shì qián wén huò yǎn qián de nà xiē wù pǐn huò dòng wù

Word origin

它 (tā, "it") + 们 (men, "plural marker") forms a pronoun for more than one nonhuman referent.

Usage tips

  • English does not show from the word they whether a group contains people, animals, or objects, but Chinese makes the nonhuman choice clear here.

Word lists with this word