Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
Chinese pronouns: 我、你、他 and 这、那
Original Chinese study material with English explanations. Simplified Chinese with pinyin; beginner, intermediate and advanced are editorial difficulty labels.
我 (wǒ) means I or me; 你 (nǐ) means you. 他、她 and 它 are all pronounced tā but distinguish he, she and it in writing. 这 (zhè) points to this and 那 (nà) to that. A demonstrative before a countable noun commonly takes a classifier.
这是我的书，那是你的。
Zhè shì wǒ de shū, nà shì nǐ de.
This is my book; that one is yours.
这些书是他们的。
Zhèxiē shū shì tāmen de.
These books are theirs.
这些 means these and 那些 means those. Spoken tā does not reveal which written pronoun is intended; context matters.
Try it
Choose “that book”.
- 那本书
- 我的书
- 这些书
Answer and explanation
那本书. 那 indicates that and 本 classifies a book.