Meaning
it
Chinese: 指代事物的第三人称代词。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “ta” becomes a different word in each tone. 它 is the 1st tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 它们tā menthey; them
- 其它qí tā(adjective) other
- 它本身tā běn shēnitself
- 管它guǎn tāno matter if; regardless of; don’t worry about (it, him etc); doesn’t matter
- 吉它jí tāa guitar
Example Sentence
这是我的猫，它很可爱。Zhè shì wǒ de māo, tā hěn kě ài.This is my cat; it is very cute.
这Zhèthis是shìis我wǒI的deof猫māocat (CL:只)，它tāit很hěnvery可爱kě àiadorable。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Under a roof (宀) was originally the picture of a snake (the early form of 蛇). It was borrowed for the pronoun ‘it’, used for things and animals.
A way to remember it
Once a coiled snake; now the pronoun ‘it’.
Easy to confuse with
- 安‘Peace’: the same roof on top, but over 女 (woman), not the snake shape.