There are just three basic pronouns in spoken Mandarin:

I, me - wǒ - 我
You - nǐ - 你
He, Him / She, Her / It - tā
Plurals

Plurals are formed by adding 'men' at the end of the pronoun:

We, Us - wǒ men - 我們
You - nǐ men - 你們
They, Them - tā men - 他們
When speaking to elders or someone in authority, it is more polite to address them formally with nín 您 instead of the less formal nǐ - 你.

Written Forms

He, she, and it all have the same sound - tā, but they use different characters for writing:

he - 他
she - 她
it - 它
In spoken Mandarin, the context of the sentence will usually (but not always!) tell you whether the speaker is referring to a man, a woman or a thing.

Reflexive Pronoun

Mandarin also has a reflexive pronoun zì jǐ -自己, used when both subject and object are the same. For example:

Tā xǐ huàn tā zì jǐ – He likes himself.

Zì jǐ can also be used directly after a noun or pronoun to intensify the subject. For example:

Wǒ zì jǐ xǐ huàn. – I, myself, like it.

Sound Clips of Mandarin Pronouns

Here are some example sentences using Mandarin pronouns.

Audio files are marked with ►

Wǒ - 我

I am a student.
►Wǒ shì xuéshēng.
我是學生｡

I like ice cream.
►Wǒ xǐhuān bīngqílín.
我喜歡冰淇淋｡

I don’t have a bicycle.
►Wǒ méi yǒu jiǎotàchē.
我沒有腳踏車｡

Nǐ - 你

Are you a student?
►Nǐ shì xuéshēng ma?
你是學生嗎?

Do you like ice cream?
►Nǐ xǐhuan bīngqílín ma?
你喜歡冰淇淋嗎?

Do you have a bicycle?
►Nǐ yǒu jiǎotàchē ma?
你有腳踏車嗎?

Tā - 她

She is a doctor.
►Tā shì yīshēng.
她是醫生｡

She likes coffee.
►Tā xǐhuan kāfēi.
她喜歡咖啡｡

She doesn’t have a car.
►Tā méi yǒu chē.
她沒有車｡

Wǒmen - 我們

We are students.
►Wǒmen shì xuéshēng.
我們是學生｡

We like ice cream.
►Wǒmen xǐhuan bīngqílín.
我們喜歡冰淇淋｡

We don’t have a bicycle.
►Wǒmen méi yǒu jiǎotàchē.
我們沒有腳踏車｡

Tāmen - 他們

They are students.
►Tāmen shì xuéshēng.
他們是學生｡

They like coffee.
►Tāmen xǐhuan kāfēi.
他們喜歡咖啡｡

They don’t have a car.
►Tāmen méi yǒu chē.
他們沒有車｡

Zìjǐ - 自己

He lives by himself.
►Tā zìjǐ zhù.
他自己住｡

I will go myself.
►Wǒ zìjǐ qù.
我自己去｡