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Mandarin Chinese · HSK 3.0 Band 1 · Chapter 4

她是我的汉语老师 She is my Chinese teacher

Tā shì wǒ de Hànyǔ lǎoshī

The full set of personal pronouns, the possessive particle 的, introducing friends, classmates, and teachers.

Dialogue

朋友 — Friends

马小明大dà山shān, 谁shuí是shì你nǐ的de朋péng友yǒu? Dashan, who are your friends?
大山谢xiè小xiǎo文wén是shì我wǒ的de朋péng友yǒu! Xie Xiaowen is my friend!
马小明我wǒ也yě是shì你nǐ的de朋péng友yǒu吗ma? Am I also your friend?
大山你nǐ? 你nǐ不bú是shì我wǒ的de朋péng友yǒu …… You? You're not my friend...
马小明不bú是shì?! Not?!
大山你nǐ是shì我wǒ的de好hǎo朋péng友yǒu! You're my GOOD friend!

Dialogue

老师 — The teacher

谢小文高gāo老lǎo师shī是shì中zhōng国guó人rén吗ma? Is Teacher Gao Chinese?
大山是shì, 高gāo老lǎo师shī是shì中zhōng国guó人rén。 Yes, Teacher Gao is Chinese.
谢小文高gāo老lǎo师shī是shì你nǐ们men的de汉hàn语yǔ老lǎo师shī吗ma? Is Teacher Gao your Chinese teacher?
大山是shì, 高gāo老lǎo师shī是shì我wǒ们men的de汉hàn语yǔ老lǎo师shī。 Yes, Teacher Gao is our Chinese teacher.
谢小文我wǒ的de汉hàn语yǔ老lǎo师shī不bú是shì高gāo老lǎo师shī …… My Chinese teacher isn't Teacher Gao...
大山谁shuí是shì你nǐ的de汉hàn语yǔ老lǎo师shī? Who is your Chinese teacher?
谢小文我wǒ的de汉hàn语yǔ老lǎo师shī …… 也yě是shì高gāo老lǎo师shī! My Chinese teacher... is also Teacher Gao!

Dialogue

同学们 — Students

高老师你nǐ们men好hǎo, 同tóng学xué们men! 我wǒ是shì你nǐ们men的de汉hàn语yǔ老lǎo师shī。 Hello, students! I am your Chinese teacher.
大山您nín是shì我wǒ们men的de汉hàn语yǔ老lǎo师shī吗ma? Are you our Chinese teacher?
高老师是shì, 我wǒ是shì你nǐ们men的de汉hàn语yǔ老lǎo师shī。 Yes, I am your Chinese teacher.
大山我wǒ是shì您nín的de学xué生shēng吗ma? Am I your student?
高老师是shì, 你nǐ是shì我wǒ的de学xué生shēng。 Yes, you are my student.
大山我wǒ也yě是shì您nín的de朋péng友yǒu吗ma? Am I also your friend?
高老师我wǒ是shì你nǐ的de老lǎo师shī, 不bú是shì你nǐ的de朋péng友yǒu! I'm your teacher, not your friend!

Vocabulary

她tā: pronoun she; her
他tā: pronoun he; him
我wǒ们men: pronoun we; us
他tā们men: pronoun they; them (male/mixed)
她tā们men: pronoun they; them (female group)
的de: particle (possessive/structural particle)
汉hàn语yǔ: noun Chinese (the language)
朋péng友yǒu: noun friend
同tóng学xué: noun classmate; fellow student
中zhōng国guó: noun China
跟gēn: preposition with; and (prepositional)
人rén: noun person; people

New characters

朋: (in 朋友 = friend)
朋友 péngyou — friend高朋 Gāo Péng — Gao Peng (persona — taxi driver)朋月 Péng Yuè — Peng Yue (persona)
友: (in 朋友 = friend); friend
朋友 péngyou — friend大友 Dà Yǒu — Da You (persona — market vendor)友天 Yǒu Tiān — You Tian (persona)
的de: (possessive/structural particle)
别的 biéde — other; different真的 zhēn de — really; truly真的吗 zhēn de ma — really? (frequent reaction)
中: middle; in (in 中国 = China)
中国 Zhōngguó — China中文 Zhōngwén — Chinese (written)中学 zhōngxué — middle / high school
国guó: country
中国 Zhōngguó — China国家 guójiā — country; nation外国 wàiguó — foreign country
人rén: person
家人 jiārén — family member老人 lǎorén — elderly person男人 nánrén — man
汉: (in 汉语 = Chinese language; 汉字 = Chinese character)
汉语 Hànyǔ — Chinese (the language)汉字 Hànzì — Chinese character
语: (in 汉语 = Chinese language)
汉语 Hànyǔ — Chinese (the language)语法 yǔfǎ — grammar
同tóng: same; together (in 同学 = classmate)
同学 tóngxué — classmate; fellow student同事 tóngshì — colleague同意 tóngyì — agree
她tā: she; her
她们 tāmen — they; them (female group)
跟gēn: with; and (preposition)

Hanzi — writing & recognition

他

tā he; him Writing

5 strokes left-right radical 亻

Left: 亻 (person radical). Right: 也. The 亻 component signals "person" — many character starting with 亻 refer to people or human actions.

们

men (plural suffix for pronouns and people) Writing

5 strokes left-right radical 亻

A phono-semantic compound: left side 亻 (person, semantic) + right side 门 (mén, phonetic hint). 们 is the productive plural suffix for pronouns (我们, 你们, 他们) and for people-nouns (同学们, 朋友们).

的

de (possessive/structural particle) Writing

8 strokes left-right

Phono-semantic compound: left 白 (white, semantic origin) + right 勺 (sháo, phonetic). 的 is one of the most frequently-used characters in all of Chinese — you will see it on every page.

她

tā she; her Recognition

6 strokes left-right radical 女

中

zhōng middle; in (in 中国 = China) Recognition

4 strokes single-component

中 depicts a flag pole through the center of an enclosure. Original meaning: "center" or "middle". Now also used for 中国 (Middle Kingdom = China).

国

guó country Recognition

8 strokes enclosure

The 囗 (enclosure) on the outside represents walls/borders. Inside is 玉 (jade, signifying treasure). Together: "a place enclosed by walls containing treasure" → country.

同

tóng same; together (in 同学 = classmate) Recognition

6 strokes half-enclosure

Grammar

Personal Pronouns (Full Set)

Explanation

Chinese personal pronouns split into singular and plural. The plural is formed by adding 们 to the singular. 您 is the formal/polite version of 你 — it has no plural form. 他 (he) and 她 (she) are pronounced identically (tā); the difference is only written, not spoken.

Examples

我是学生。 I am a student.
我们是你的朋友。 We are your friends.
他们是我的朋友。 They are my friends.

Grammar

The Structural Particle 的 (Possession)

Explanation

The particle 的 sits between the owner and the thing owned, expressing possession. Word order: Owner + 的 + Thing. Note: when the relationship is close (family, close friends), 的 can be dropped — 我妈妈 (my mom), 我朋友 (my friend) are both common.

Examples

我的汉语老师 my Chinese teacher
她是我的同学。 She is my classmate.
他们是我的朋友。 They are my friends.

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