Hokkien pronouns

Hokkien pronouns pose some difficulty to speakers of English due to their complexity. The Hokkien language use a variety of differing demonstrative and interrogative pronouns, and many of them are only with slightly different meanings.

Pronoun
Hàn-jī代名詞
Pe̍h-ōe-jīTāi-bêng-sû
Tâi-lôtāi-bîng-sû
Bbánpìngdâibbíngsú
Hokkien grammar

Basic personal pronouns

The plural personal pronouns tend to be nasalized forms of the singular ones.

Singular Plural
Chinese character vernacular / colloquial literary Chinese character vernacular / colloquial literary
First person 我góangó͘阮goán / gún (exclusive)-
俺án (possessive determiner)-咱lán (inclusive)-
Second person 汝lílú恁lín-
Third person 伊ii𪜶in-

List of Hokkien personal pronouns
Pe̍h-ōe-jī Hàn-jī Level of speech Gender Grammatical number Notes
– first person –
chū-kí 自己 formal, written neutral singular
góa 我 formal / informal neutral singular
góa-lâng 我儂 informal neutral plural 儂 (-lâng) is typically suffixed for plural in Southeast Asian Hokkien dialects. (see also list of pluralising suffixes, below)
goán 阮 formal / informal neutral plural Exclusive
gún 阮 informal females, rarely males singular 阮 (gún only, not goán) is typically used in Taiwanese Hokkien lyrics.
goán 阮 informal neutral singular
ka-kī 家己 formal / informal neutral singular
ka-kī-lâng 家己儂 informal neutral plural 儂 (-lâng) is suffixed for plural. Here, it is not only used in Southeast Asian Hokkien dialects, but also in Chinese Hokkien and Taiwanese Hokkien. (see also list of pluralising suffixes, below)
kò-jîn 個人 formal neutral singular
lán 咱 formal / informal neutral plural Inclusive
lán-lâng 咱儂 informal neutral plural 儂 (-lâng) is typically suffixed for plural in Southeast Asian Hokkien dialects. (see also list of pluralising suffixes, below)
lâng 儂 informal neutral singular It originally means "person".
lín-chó͘-má 恁祖媽 very informal, rude females singular It originally means "your grandmother".
lín-pē 恁父 very informal, rude males singular It originally means "your father".
ngó͘ 吾 / 我 formal, written neutral singular
sió-seng 小生 formal, written males singular
– second person –
chiok-hā 足下 formal, written males singular
koh-hā 閣下 formal, written males singular
kun 君 formal, written males singular
lí 汝 formal / informal neutral singular
lín 恁 formal / informal neutral plural
lín-lâng 恁儂 informal neutral plural 儂 (-lâng) is typically suffixed for plural in Southeast Asian Hokkien dialects. (see also list of pluralising suffixes, below)
– third person –
i 伊 formal / informal neutral singular
i-lâng 伊儂 informal neutral plural 儂 (-lâng) is typically suffixed for plural in Southeast Asian Hokkien dialects. (see also list of pluralising suffixes, below)
in 𪜶 formal / informal neutral plural
lâng 儂 informal neutral singular It originally means "person".

Archaic personal pronouns
Pe̍h-ōe-jī Hàn-jī Level of speech Gender Meaning Notes
chhiap-sin 妾身 formal females I It means "concubine" or "mistress". It is seldom used in modern societies.
pē-hā 陛下 formal, written neutral, emperors, kings, queens You
tiān-hā 殿下 formal, written neutral, princes, princesses You

Suffixes

Suffixes are added to pronouns to make them plural.

Pe̍h-ōe-jī Hàn-jī Level of speech Gender Examples Notes
lâng 儂 informal neutral
  • 我儂, góa-lâng (we)
  • 家己儂, ka-kī-lâng (we)
  • 咱儂, lán-lâng (we)
  • 恁儂, lín-lâng (you)
  • 伊儂, i-lâng (they)
 儂 (-lâng) is typically suffixed for plural in Southeast Asian Hokkien dialects,
but some of them like ka-kī-lâng (we) is also used in Chinese and Taiwanese Hokkien.

Demonstrative and interrogative pronouns

Usually, Hokkien pronouns are prefixed with ch- for thing or things near the speaker, and h- for one or ones distant from the speaker.

Pe̍h-ōe-jī Hàn-jī Meaning
che 此 / 即 / 這 this thing (near the speaker)
he 彼 / 許 that thing (distant from the speaker)
tó-chi̍t-ê 佗一个 which thing(s)?
chit-ê 此个 / 即个 / 這个 this (near the speaker)
chia-ê 遮个 these (near the speaker)
hit-ê 彼个 / 許个 that (distant from the speaker)
hia-ê 遐个 those (distant from the speaker)
chia 遮 here (near the speaker)
hia 遐 there (distant from the speaker)
tó-ūi 佗位 where

See also
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