他
he; him
tā
What does 他 mean?
他 (tā) is the third-person singular pronoun for males — 'he' or 'him', with no case distinction (Chinese pronouns don't change form between subject and object). A few things set Chinese pronouns apart from English. First, all three third-person pronouns sound IDENTICAL — 他 (he), 她 (she), and 它 (it) are all pronounced 'tā', distinguished only in writing. In speech, you cannot tell whether someone said 'he' or 'she' without context.
Second, 他 is the historically default 'unmarked' form: when gender is unknown, unspecified, or mixed (a group of both), Chinese uses 他 or 他们 (they). Third, the plural 'they' is formed simply by adding 们: 他们 (tāmen, 'they/them'). Possessive 'his' adds 的: 他的 (tā de)
Character breakdown
he; him (亻 'person' radical + 也)
Memory hook: 他 = 亻 (person) + 也 (also). 'Another person' — the male default. The female 她 swaps 亻 for 女 (woman).
Example sentences
他是我的朋友。
Tā shì wǒ de péngyou.
He's my friend.
neutral
他在哪儿？
Tā zài nǎr?
Where is he?
spoken
他叫什么名字？
Tā jiào shénme míngzi?
What's his name?
spoken
他喜欢学汉语。
Tā xǐhuan xué Hànyǔ.
He likes studying Chinese.
neutral
Common phrases with 他
Don't confuse 他 with
她 means 'she / her'. Same pronunciation as 他 but written with 女 (woman) radical instead of 亻 (person). In speech they're identical — only writing distinguishes them.
FAQ
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