HSK Guide

他 tā — he, him; his; (in the plural 他们) they, including groups of mixed or unstated gender

tā (first tone, high and level)

he, him; his; (in the plural 他们) they, including groups of mixed or unstated gender

5 strokesRadical 人Frequency #10
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Pinyin

  • tā (first tone, high and level)

he, him; his; (in the plural 他们) they, including groups of mixed or unstated gender

Character breakdown

Ideographic description

⿰亻也The sequence reads left to right and describes how the parts are arranged.

  • 亻meaning partno entry yetThe person radical: the word points at a human being.
  • 也sound partno entry yet也 is here for the sound alone; it has nothing to do with its own meaning, "also".

Mnemonic

A person 亻 with 也 beside it for the sound. Two companions were built on the same pattern much later, when writers wanted to distinguish in print what speech has never distinguished: 她 with the woman radical, and 它 with a roof, for things. All three are said tā — only the radical tells them apart, and only on the page.

A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.

Words containing 他

Radical 人 — other characters