How to say “we” in Chinese
we (you and I)
“We” in Chinese is 咱们, zán men: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
咱们 is read zán men: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On the left, 口 “mouth”; on the right, 自 “self”.
On the left, 亻 “person”; on the right, 门 mén “door” hints at the sound.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “咱们”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 咱们. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 咱们一起去吃饭吧zánmenyìqǐqùchīfànbaLet's go eat together.
- 咱们走吧zánmenzǒubaLet's go.
- 周末咱们怎么过？zhōumòzánmenzěnmeguòHow shall we spend the weekend?
- 今天太晚了，咱们明天再谈吧。jīntiāntàiwǎnle,zánmenmíngtiānzàitánbaIt's already late today — let's finish talking tomorrow.
More words from the lesson “You, me and everyone else”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “we” in Chinese?
“We” in Chinese is 咱们, pinyin zánmen.
What does 咱们 mean?
咱们 (zánmen) means “we (you and I)”.
How do you write 咱们?
咱们 is 2 characters: 咱 (zán) — we (you and I); 们 (men) — plural suffix. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 咱们?
咱们 is read zánmen. Tones: zán — second tone, men — neutral tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“we” in the lesson “You, me and everyone else”
This word is from the topic “People and personality” of HSK 3. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free