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.
Basic personal pronouns
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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 |
góa |
ngó͘ |
阮 |
goán / gún (exclusive) |
-
|
| 俺 |
án (possessive determiner) |
- |
咱 |
lán (inclusive) |
-
|
| Second person
|
汝 |
lí |
lú |
恁 |
lín |
-
|
| Third person
|
伊 |
i |
i |
𪜶 |
in |
-
|
List of Hokkien personal pronouns
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| Pe̍h-ōe-jī
|
Hàn-jī
|
Level of speech
|
Gender
|
Grammatical number
|
Notes
|
| – first person –
|
| chū-kí
|
自己
|
formal, written
|
neutral
|
singular
|
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| góa
|
我
|
formal / informal
|
neutral
|
singular
|
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| 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
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阮 (gún only, not goán) is typically used in Taiwanese Hokkien lyrics.
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| goán
|
阮
|
informal
|
neutral
|
singular
|
|
| ka-kī
|
家己
|
formal / informal
|
neutral
|
singular
|
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| ka-kī-lâng
|
家己儂
|
informal
|
neutral
|
plural
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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)
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| 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".
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| lín-chó͘-má
|
恁祖媽
|
very informal, rude
|
females
|
singular
|
It originally means "your grandmother".
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| lín-pē
|
恁父
|
very informal, rude
|
males
|
singular
|
It originally means "your father".
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| 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
|
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| kun
|
君
|
formal, written
|
males
|
singular
|
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| 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
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| 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.
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| pē-hā
|
陛下
|
formal, written
|
neutral, emperors, kings, queens
|
You
|
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| tiān-hā
|
殿下
|
formal, written
|
neutral, princes, princesses
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You
|
|
Suffixes
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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
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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)
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| tó-chi̍t-ê
|
佗一个
|
which thing(s)?
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| chit-ê
|
此个 / 即个 / 這个
|
this (near the speaker)
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| chia-ê
|
遮个
|
these (near the speaker)
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| hit-ê
|
彼个 / 許个
|
that (distant from the speaker)
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| hia-ê
|
遐个
|
those (distant from the speaker)
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| chia
|
遮
|
here (near the speaker)
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| hia
|
遐
|
there (distant from the speaker)
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| tó-ūi
|
佗位
|
where
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See also
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