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她
tā
she
她是我的老师。
She is my teacher.
neutral
Third-person singular feminine pronoun used to refer to a woman or female animal.
她很漂亮。
She is very beautiful.
这只猫是她的。
This cat is hers.
Used in both formal and informal contexts. Equivalent to 'he' (他) for masculine subjects.
Pro Tip
Gendered Pronouns in Chinese
Unlike English, Chinese pronouns are gendered. Use '她' for females, '他' for males, and '它' for objects/animals. For plural forms, add '们' (men) to the pronoun (e.g., '她们' for 'they' feminine).
Gold Rule
Pronoun Agreement
Ensure the pronoun matches the gender of the referent. For example, use '她' when referring to a woman, not '他'.
Word Origin
The character '她' combines the radical '女' (woman) with the phonetic component '也' (yě), indicating a feminine pronoun. It was introduced in the early 20th century to distinguish gender in pronouns, as '他' (tā) was historically used for both masculine and gender-neutral contexts.
Usage Notes
In modern Chinese, '她' is exclusively used for feminine referents. For gender-neutral or masculine contexts, '他' is used. In some dialects or older texts, '伊' (yī) was used as a feminine pronoun, but '她' is now standard.
Word Breakdown
女
woman
radical也
phonetic component
phonetic汉英词典