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 The plural personal pronouns tend to be nasalized forms of the singular ones. Singular PluralChinese charactervernacular / colloquialliteraryChinese charactervernacular / colloquialliterary 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 Pe̍h-ōe-jīHàn-jīLevel of speechGenderGrammatical numberNotes – first person –chū-kí自己formal, writtenneutralsingulargóa我formal / informalneutralsingulargóa-lâng我儂informalneutralplural儂 (-lâng) is typically suffixed for plural in Southeast Asian Hokkien dialects. (see also list of pluralising suffixes, below)goán阮formal / informalneutralpluralExclusivegún阮informalfemales, rarely malessingular阮 (gún only, not goán) is typically used in Taiwanese Hokkien lyrics.goán阮informalneutralsingularka-kī家己formal / informalneutralsingularka-kī-lâng家己儂informalneutralplural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)kò-jîn個人formalneutralsingularlán咱formal / informalneutralpluralInclusivelán-lâng咱儂informalneutralplural儂 (-lâng) is typically suffixed for plural in Southeast Asian Hokkien dialects. (see also list of pluralising suffixes, below)lâng儂informalneutralsingularIt originally means "person".lín-chó͘-má恁祖媽very informal, rudefemalessingularIt originally means "your grandmother".lín-pē恁父very informal, rudemalessingularIt originally means "your father".ngó͘吾 / 我formal, writtenneutralsingularsió-seng小生formal, writtenmalessingular – second person –chiok-hā足下formal, writtenmalessingularkoh-hā閣下formal, writtenmalessingularkun君formal, writtenmalessingularlí汝formal / informalneutralsingularlín恁formal / informalneutralplurallín-lâng恁儂informalneutralplural儂 (-lâng) is typically suffixed for plural in Southeast Asian Hokkien dialects. (see also list of pluralising suffixes, below) – third person –i伊formal / informalneutralsingulari-lâng伊儂informalneutralplural儂 (-lâng) is typically suffixed for plural in Southeast Asian Hokkien dialects. (see also list of pluralising suffixes, below)in𪜶formal / informalneutralplurallâng儂informalneutralsingularIt originally means "person".
Archaic personal pronouns Pe̍h-ōe-jīHàn-jīLevel of speechGenderMeaningNoteschhiap-sin妾身formalfemalesIIt means "concubine" or "mistress". It is seldom used in modern societies.pē-hā陛下formal, writtenneutral, emperors, kings, queensYoutiān-hā殿下formal, writtenneutral, princes, princessesYou
Suffixes Suffixes are added to pronouns to make them plural. Pe̍h-ōe-jīHàn-jīLevel of speechGenderExamplesNoteslâng儂informalneutral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 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-jīHàn-jīMeaningche此 / 即 / 這this thing (near the speaker)he彼 / 許that thing (distant from the speaker)tó-chi̍t-ê佗一个which thing(s)?chit-ê此个 / 即个 / 這个this (near the speaker)chia-ê遮个these (near the speaker)hit-ê彼个 / 許个that (distant from the speaker)hia-ê遐个those (distant from the speaker)chia遮here (near the speaker)hia遐there (distant from the speaker)tó-ūi佗位where
See also Hokkien language Hokkien grammar Hokkien numerals