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he / him

5 strokes · 亻(person radical) + 也 · HSK 1

Where 他 comes from

他 = 亻(person) + 也. It originally meant 'other / another' (anyone else, over there), and only later narrowed to mean specifically 'he'. The person radical 亻tells you it's about a human.

他 in Chinese culture

Spoken Chinese is wonderfully gender-blind: 他 (he), 她 (she), and 它 (it) are ALL pronounced exactly the same — tā. You only tell them apart in writing. So when you hear someone speak, 'he' and 'she' sound identical — context tells you who. 他们 (with 们) means 'they'.

Example

他们 tāmen — they / them

他是我朋友。
Tā shì wǒ péngyou.
He is my friend.

How to remember it

A person (亻) plus 也 — pointing at some other person: HE.

他, 她, 它 (he, she, it) are pronounced identically (tā). Chinese speech makes no sound distinction for gender — a feature that surprises every learner.

Same sound, different tones

1st tā
he
3rd tǎ
tower
4th tà
to step on

Words unlocked by 他

他是… tā shì…
he is…
他来了 tā lái le
he has come
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