Vocabulary 02 - Personal Pronouns in Cantonese 我你佢 (with Audios)

In Cantonese, personal pronouns are refreshingly straightforward compared to languages like English or those in Europe. Cantonese employs a single neutral form, 佢, for "he/she/it". This simplicity extends to plural forms, where adding 哋 after the singular pronoun indicates plurality. Let's explore how Cantonese utilizes this streamlined approach to personal pronouns with example sentences.
Vocab02 - Personal Pronouns 我你佢

Table of Content

#   Personal Pronouns in Cantonese
#   Example Sentences
#   Further Grammar Insights

In Cantonese, unlike English or other European languages that have gender-specific pronouns, there is only a neutral third-person pronoun, 佢(), equivalent to "he/she/it" in English. Forming the plural is straightforward: simply add 哋 () after the singular pronoun.

Additionally, Cantonese makes no distinction between subject and object pronouns.

In Mandarin, the equivalents are 他/她/它 for 佢 and 們 for 哋.

Personal Pronouns in Cantonese

Click on Jyutping romanization marker above each character to hear the audio!

1st

2nd

3rd

Singular

我()

你()

佢()

I
Me

You

He/She/It
Him/Her

Plural

我()哋()

你()哋()

佢()哋()

We
Us

You (plu.)

They
Them

Example Sentences

  1. A - 我 as I

    我()係()（一()個()）醫()生()
    I am a doctor.

    B - 我 as Me

    佢()鍾()意()我()
    He/She likes me.

  2. 你()係()（一()個()）護()士()
    You are a nurse.

  3. A - 佢 as He/She

    佢()係()（一()個()）病()人()
    He/She is a patient.

    B - 佢 as Him/Her

    我()唔()識()佢()
    I don't know him/her.

  4. 佢()係()（一()隻()）狗()仔()
    It is a puppy.

  5. 佢()係()（一()間()）大()學()
    It is a university.

  6. A - 我哋 as We

    我()哋()係()香()港()人()
    We are Hongkongers.

    B - 我哋 as Us

    你()幫()過()我()哋()
    You have helped us.

  7. 你()哋()係()英()國()人()
    You (guys) are British.

  8. A - 佢哋 as They

    佢()哋()係()中()國()人()
    They are Chinese.

    B - 佢哋 as Them

    你()見()過()佢()哋()
    You have seen/met them.

Further Grammar Insights

Review the usage of 係() in Learn Cantonese! Grammar01 - Linking Verb ～係～