Use “they” for 他们 or contextually 她们. Chinglish does not require agreement changes on the following verb.
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- Included in: Common 100 Words · Lesson 1 Open Lesson Start Study
they
他们
A group of people referred to as the subject.
Standard Mapping
- Chinese
- 他们
- Pinyin
- tā men
- Meaning
- 第三人称复数代词
- Note
- Primary third-person plural mapping.
Meaning and Usage
Mapping Boundary
Correct Mapping
They go school → 他们去学校。
Incorrect Mapping or Split
Them go school → 他们去学校。
Reason
Them is not the canonical subject token.
Chinglish Examples
They buy many book
Chinese Sentence
他们买很多书。
Full Pinyin
tā men mǎi hěn duō shū
Natural English
They buy many books.
They sometimes eat rice
Chinese Sentence
他们有时候吃米饭。
Full Pinyin
tā men yǒu shí hou chī mǐ fàn
Natural English
They sometimes eat rice.
They go school
Chinese Sentence
他们去学校。
Full Pinyin
tā men qù xué xiào
Natural English
They are going to school.
They buy water
Chinese Sentence
他们买水。
Full Pinyin
tā men mǎi shuǐ
Natural English
They buy water.