我
I; me
wǒ
What does 我 mean?
我 (wǒ) is the first-person singular pronoun — 'I' as a subject AND 'me' as an object. Chinese pronouns don't change case, so 我喜欢他 'I like him' and 他喜欢我 'he likes me' use the same word. Two things English speakers should know: first, to make it possessive ('my / mine'), add 的: 我的书 'my book'; the 的 is sometimes dropped for close relationships (我妈 'my mom,' 我家 'my home/family'); second, to make it plural ('we / us'), add 们: 我们 (wǒmen). Note that Mandarin also distinguishes inclusive 'we' (咱们, zánmen — you and I) from exclusive 'we' (我们 — me and others, maybe not you), though 我们 covers both in most modern speech. There's no formal/polite version of 我; 你 has 您 for politeness, but 我 stays the same regardless of who you're talking to.
Character breakdown
I; me — originally a pictograph of a hand holding a weapon, repurposed as the first-person pronoun
Memory hook: 我 has the 戈 (dagger-axe) component on the right — imagine pointing a weapon at yourself to say 'me, this one.'
Example sentences
我叫李明。
Wǒ jiào Lǐ Míng.
My name is Li Ming.
neutral
我是中国人。
Wǒ shì Zhōngguórén.
I'm Chinese.
neutral
我喜欢你。
Wǒ xǐhuān nǐ.
I like you.
spoken
这是我的书。
Zhè shì wǒ de shū.
This is my book.
neutral
Common phrases with 我
Synonyms
咱 / 咱们 means 'we (you and I)' — inclusive. 我们 can be inclusive OR exclusive (just my group). Beijing speakers love 咱们; in Taiwan it sounds Northern. 咱 alone for singular 'I' is dialectal and rare.
Don't confuse 我 with
找 ('to look for / to seek') looks very similar to 我 — both have 扌-like left sides and 戈 on the right. 找 has 扌 (hand radical) on the left; 我 has a single slanted stroke. A famous handwriting trap.
你 is 'you' — the second-person counterpart. Both are core HSK 1 pronouns; beginners sometimes swap them when writing. Sentence pattern is identical (subject + verb), so position alone won't save you.
我 = singular 'I/me.' 我们 = plural 'we/us.' Don't say 我去 if you mean 'we are going' — that's just 'I am going.'