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HSK 1

我们

we; us

pronounneutral
3rd tone
menneutral tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
wǒmen
Part of speech
pronoun
Level
HSK 1
Strokes
12
Register
neutral

Stroke order for 我们

我们 is written with 12 strokes (: 7, : 5). The animation replays automatically.

What does 我们 mean?

我们 (wǒmen) is the plural first-person pronoun in Mandarin — 'we' or 'us.'

It is formed by adding the plural suffix (men, toneless) to ('I'). Two things differ from English: first, 我们 doesn't change form for subject vs object — same word for 'we' and 'us'; second, Chinese has a separate inclusive 'we' — 咱们 (zánmen) — which always includes the listener ('you and I, together'), while 我们 can be ambiguous between inclusive ('our team including you') and exclusive ('our team, not you'). Northern speakers, especially Beijingers, use 咱们 a lot; southerners default to 我们 for both.

The possessive form is 我们的 ('our / ours'). The suffix only attaches to pronouns and people-nouns (你们 'you all,' 他们 'they,' 朋友们 'friends').

Note: 我们 is the standard plural 'we / us.' Mandarin also has 咱们 (zánmen), which always INCLUDES the listener; 我们 can be inclusive or exclusive depending on context.

Character by character

I; me
+
menplural suffix for pronouns and people (toneless)
=
我们

Memory hook: 我 = I, 们 = plural marker. Add 们 to any pronoun: 我们 we, 你们 you all, 他们 they.

Example sentences

我们是朋友。

Wǒmen shì péngyou.

We are friends.

neutral

我们去吃饭吧。

Wǒmen qù chīfàn ba.

Let's go eat.

spoken

这是我们的家。

Zhè shì wǒmen de jiā.

This is our home.

neutral

我们都喜欢中文。

Wǒmen dōu xǐhuan Zhōngwén.

We all like Chinese.

neutral

Common phrases with 我们

我们的wǒmen deour; ours
我们一起wǒmen yìqǐwe together
我们走吧wǒmen zǒu balet's go
我们都wǒmen dōuall of us

Synonyms

咱们zánmen

咱们 is the inclusive 'we' — always includes the listener ('you and I together'). Common in northern China. 我们 can be inclusive OR exclusive — context tells you. When you want to make clear 'you're included,' 咱们 is unambiguous.

Don't confuse 我们 with

你们nǐmen

你们 means 'you all' — plural 'you,' not 'we.' Both use the suffix but the pronouns differ. 我们 (we) vs 你们 (you all) vs 他们 (they).

他们tāmen

他们 means 'they / them.' Same suffix on the third-person pronoun. Get the pronouns straight: I, you, he/they-singular.

FAQ

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