HSK 3.0 Level 1 · Pronouns

它们 tāmen “they (for inanimate objects)” in Chinese

Traditional 它們

What 它们 means

  1. they (for inanimate objects)
  2. they
  3. them

How to say 它们

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale它tā1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own们menneutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

它们 in a sentence

  1. 不。它们太小了。

    Bù. Tāmen tài xiǎo le.

    No. They’re too small.

    Sentence #760585 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 它们是假的。

    Tāmen shì jiǎ de.

    They’re fake.

    Sentence #7769298 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我会自己把它们带过去。

    Wǒ huì zìjǐ bǎ tāmen dài guòqù.

    I’ll take them over myself.

    Sentence #13919905 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 它们 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 它 (tā) with each of its parts in a different colour
它tāit
  • 宀roof · mián
  • 匕spoon · bǐ

Memory aidOnce drawn as a snake. That meaning moved to 蛇 (shé), and 它 came to mean “it”.

The character 们 (men) with each of its parts in a different colour
们menplural marker for pronouns
  • 亻person form of 人 · rénMeaning part
  • 门gate · ménSound part

亻 hints at the meaning (person); 门 (mén) hints at the sound. Compare it with men.

How to write 它们

它 5 strokes · 们 5 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

它们 (tāmen) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 它们 (tāmen). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 它们

Words with 它

它tā · it

Words with 们

们men · plural marker for pronouns我们wǒmen · we你们nǐmen · you (plural)他们tāmen · they她们tāmen · they人们rénmen · people咱们zánmen · we

More words: People, Body & Health

小姐xiǎojiě · miss同学tóngxué · classmate哪些nǎxiē · which ones?那些nàxiē · those她们tāmen · they有的yǒude · (there are) some (who are…)有些yǒuxiē · some这些zhèxiē · these

FAQs

它们 (tāmen) means “they (for inanimate objects)” or “they”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 1 word.
Say it tāmen: tā with a 1st tone, then men with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 它们 is written 它們. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type tamen with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 它们 from the suggestions. Typing tamen into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
它们 is an HSK 3.0 Level 1 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 1 word list. It is not on the older HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.