Personal Pronouns and Their Plurals

01

No Gender

伊 (iii1) covers he, she and it. Taiwanese pronouns make no gender distinction at all, which means you never have to know someone's gender to talk about them — but it also means you must get the referent from context.

• 你真歡喜，𪜶無快樂。

  lí tsin huann-hí in bô khuài-lo̍klí chin hoaⁿ-hí in bô khoài-lo̍kli2 tsin1 huann1-hi2 in1 bo5 khuai3-lok8

  You're very happy; they aren't.

02

The Plurals

The plurals are single words in their own right, not a stem plus an ending you could detach: 恁 (línlínlin2) you (more than one) and 𪜶 (ininin1) they. Look closely and you can still see where they came from — lí with an n on it, i with an n on it — which makes them easy to remember once you have the singulars.

• 恁這馬佇咧創啥物？

  lín tsit-má tī-leh tshòng siánn-mihlín chit-má tī-leh chhòng siáⁿ-mihlin2 tsit4-ma2 ti7-leh4 tshong3 siann2-mih4

  What are you all doing right now?

• 𪜶是朋友。

  in sī pîng-iúin sī pêng-iúin1 si7 ping5-iu2

  They are friends.

• 𪜶無看著，毋過有聽著。

  in bô khuànn --tio̍h m̄-koh ū thiann --tio̍hin bô khoàⁿ --tio̍h m̄-koh ū thiaⁿ --tio̍hin1 bo5 khuann3 --tioh8 m7-koh4 u7 thiann1 --tioh8

  They didn't see it, but they did hear it.

03

'We' Is Special

First person plural splits in two — 咱 (lánlánlan2) including the listener, 阮 (guángoánguan2) excluding them. That distinction is important enough to have a topic of its own.

04

Possessives

Add 的 (êêe5) to any pronoun to make it possessive, and the everyday ones are written as single fused words — 我的 (guá-êgóa-êgua2-e5), 阮的 (guán-êgoán-êguan2-e5), 𪜶的 (in-êin-êin1-e5).

• 我愛𪜶，𪜶嘛愛我。

  guá ài in in mā ài guágóa ài in in mā ài góagua2 ai3 in1 in1 ma7 ai3 gua2

  I love them, and they love me.