Beginner Lesson 7.1 – My / Your / His / Her

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Possessive Words In Chinese - My, Your, His, Her, Our, Their

In this video lesson we'll learn possessive words in Chinese such as my, your, his, her, our, their.

  • Possessive words in Chinese: 你的  我的  他的...
  • Possessive Particle in Chinese: 的

VOCABULARY


GRAMMAR


Grammar 1: Possessive Particle in Chinese 的 · HSK 1

de 的 Possessive Particle

的 is the Possessive Particle in Chinese, and it is pronounced in the Neutral Tone. A Particle word in Chinese doesn't have any "real" meaning, only a grammatical meaning. And it cannot be used by itself independently in a sentence. It has to be attached to another word, to function as a grammatical structure to help put the sentence together. So 的 can only be attached after a pronoun or a noun to indicate "possessive":

Pronoun / Noun +

Here are some example of 的 as the Possessive Particle:

  • wǒde 我的 my; mine
  • tāmende 他们的 their; theirs
  • Zhōngguóde 中国的 China's

的 can be used as a descriptive particle as well, we'll discuss it in future lessons.

 

Grammar 2: Personal Possessive Words in Chinese · HSK 1

We learned Personal Pronouns in Chinese in Lesson 6.1, and to say Personal Possessive words in Chinese is just to add 的 at the end of the pronoun. Here are all of them:

Singular
Personal
Pronouns


you
(singular)


I; me


he; him


she; her
Plural
Personal
Pronouns
nǐmen
你们
you
(plural)
wǒmen
我们
we; us
tāmen
他们
they; them
(m./ m. f.)
tāmen
她们
they; them
(f.)
Singular
Personal
Possessive
nǐde
你的
your; yours
(singular)
wǒde
我的
my; mine
tāde
他的
his
tāde
她的
her; hers
Plural
Personal
Possessive
nǐmende
你们的
your; yours
(plural)
wǒmende
我们的
our; ours
tāmende
他们的
their; theirs
(m./ m. f.)

tāmende
她们的
their; theirs
(f.)

15 Comments
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lill_m8 Premium Student June 25, 2023 at 3:25 pm

We have earlier come across the character 明 (bright) as part of a name, which is pronounced “míng”. And now 名 is also pronounced “míng”. Why is this???

Also, is there a difference between the usecases of 名字 and 名? Can 名 be used alone and when in that case?

Sarah Moore Premium Student August 2, 2023 at 3:26 am

Some things just have the same pronunciation – don‘t ask me why! Chinese was made a long time ago…

Johnny K Premium Student February 28, 2023 at 12:26 am

why the character 字 become as neutral tone when it stands after 名?Is there any relevant grammar point about tone change?

mark_d Premium Student January 1, 2023 at 9:18 pm

What is the difference between míng 名 and míng zi 名字?

KYAW NAING Premium Student September 23, 2021 at 2:13 pm

她的名字是什么?我的名字是李李。
她们的名字是什么? 她们的名字是李好。
你的名字是什么? 我的名字是好。
你们的名字是什么?我们的名字是丽丽。
我的 ,我们的,他们的,她们的,你们的她的名字是什么?我的名字是李李。
她们的名字是什么? 她们的名字是李好。
你的名字是什么? 我的名字是好。
你们的名字是什么?我们的名字是丽丽。
我的 ,我们的,他们的,她们的,你们的她的名字是什么?我的名字是李李。
她们的名字是什么? 她们的名字是李好。
你的名字是什么? 我的名字是好。
你们的名字是什么?我们的名字是丽丽。
我的 ,我们的,他们的,她们的,你们的

Beatriz Fernandes Su Premium Student May 30, 2021 at 1:55 pm

你的名字是什么?
我的名字是苏雅。

lspaur Premium Student February 15, 2021 at 4:42 pm

Is this another to ask “What is youe name”?: Nǐ jiào shénme míngzì?

老师 : 你旳 名字 是 什么?
学生 : 我旳 名字 是 Madhan.

najah Premium Student June 15, 2020 at 4:08 pm

我的名字是 Najah
 
你的名字是什么?
 
他的名字是什么?
 
你们的名字是什么?

Xiaosquiddy Premium Student April 9, 2020 at 10:29 am

你好, 我叫安吉拉

Mahantesh Student April 2, 2020 at 1:52 am

你们的名字是什么?, → 我们的名字是 Mahantesh Magadum.

你好,我的名字 Hind, 你门的名字什么?

Mark Z Premium Student June 4, 2019 at 1:32 pm

In addition to the questions by Antbition and njure, under what conditions is it acceptable to ask, “你的名字是什么?”?Also, is the correct the response, “我的名字是…”, to always include last name and first name? Can one answer with only one’s last name?

Rosemarie Premium Student July 6, 2018 at 12:27 pm

他的名字是Donovan。他们的名字是Paul Mac Cartney, John Lenon, George Harrison, Ringo Star。
她的名字是Marie Curie。

Sierra Premium Student July 2, 2018 at 5:38 am

你的名字是什么?
我的名字是 Sierra 。

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