Meaning of 你
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2])
- you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.)
How to use 你
你 is the everyday word for "you" with friends, family, classmates and people your age. Add 们 to make it plural: 你们 (nǐmen). Example: 你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma?) How are you?
你 (nǐ) has the person radical 亻 on the left, so think of it as pointing at another person: you. The right side 尔 can be pictured as a small figure standing across from you.
Common mistake: Learners often use 你 with teachers, elders or customers when the polite 您 (nín) would sound better. Also watch the tone change in 你好: two third tones together make 你 sound like ní, so it is said ní hǎo.
你 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
你 nǐ · you · 7 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 你.
Questions about 你
What does 你 mean?
你 (nǐ) means "you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2])" and is used as a pronoun.
How do you write 你?
你 is made of 1 character: 你 (7 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 你 an HSK word?
Yes. 你 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Should I write 你 or 妳 when talking to a woman?
In mainland China, 你 is used for everyone, male or female. 妳 is used for women mainly in Taiwan, so use 你 if you are learning simplified Chinese.
Why does 迷你 (mínǐ) mean mini?
迷你 is a loanword chosen for its sound, which imitates the English word "mini". Here 你 does not mean "you", so read the word as a sound borrowing, as in 迷你裙 (mínǐ qún) miniskirt.