How do you make a noun plural in Chinese? You don't. || When to (NOT) use 们
Note: If you are new to characters or generally want some support while working through the example sentences in the next sections, we HIGHLY recommend downloading this plugin! It will help a ton with character reading, both in this article, and on the greater web in general. If you’ve already installed it, carry on! :)
Have you ever heard a Chinese person say something like this:
“She is a Chinese people.”
Maybe you haven’t, but it’s a VERY common mistake for Chinese people.
Have you ever thought WHY someone would make such a mistake?
Oftentimes when someone OMITS or forgets to change something in English (or any language), it’s because that thing/concept doesn’t exist in their native language!
It’s not like they’re trying to remember “how do you make ‘person’ plural in English again?”
For a Chinese person, this concept is not even on their mind!
So why don’t they always just say “person” instead of “people”?
Honestly, ths one could go either way, but it's probably because they likely hear the word “people” more than “people”, so it sticks more.
That's my best guess :P
Chinese Doesn’t Have Plurals
Wait, so what do you mean Chinese doesn’t have plurals?
Well it’s not that Chinese doesn’t have plurals.
There is one way to make something plural, but we only use it in certain situations.
I’ll get to that later.
But, in general, we don’t use plurals in Chinese, because well, they’re unnecessary!
We also don’t have articles (a, an, the)!
I’m not sure which one is a bigger relief, but I’m oh so grateful.
Two more things we never have to worry about when speaking.
No plurals, isn’t that confusing?
OK, so if you don’t have plurals, can’t that be confusing?
Not really.
Let’s look at some examples and you can decide for yourself.
A. 你有中国朋友吗？
A. Do you have Chinese friend?
B. 我有很多中国朋友。
B. I have many Chinese friend.
A. 你有孩子吗？
A. Do you have kid?
B. 有.
*B. Have. *
**In Chinese, we only care if you have at least one of said thing** (in this case, “friend”/”kid”).
If you do, we can have a conversation about it.
If not, moving on.
I actually really prefer Chinese’s logic here!
If you say “yes” to these questions in English, but you only have one friend, technically you would be lying. :P
Which is why in English, people often reply with “I have ONE.” to specify.
Of course you can respond with as many details as you want, like so:
A. 你有孩子吗？
A. Do you have kid?
B. 有。 我有一个儿子和两个女儿。
B. Have. Have one son and two daughter.
But there is absolutely no need to specify singular vs plural in Chinese.
The meaning is PERFECTLY clear without specifying!
Come on, English!
Quit overcomplicating things! :P
Numbers and plurals
What about when we have a number in front?
Yeah, we still don’t need to make the noun plural.
Let's see some more examples in context:
A. 你有几只狗？
A. You have how many dog?
B. 我有两只狗。
*B. I have 2 dog. *
Having the number there tells us all the information we need.
You said “2 friend”.
I know it’s more than one because you said “2”.
Easy.
A. 你的家有几个人？
A. Your family has how many person?
B. 我的家有五个人。
B. My family has 5 person.
It may sound funny to us, but it's still easy to understand, right?
When are plurals actually important?
OK, now there is ONE situation where plurals are a bit more necessary, and Chinese admits that as well:
When we are specifically referring to or addressing a collective group of people.
What does that look like?
**It generally looks like two things:**
1. **Using pronouns** (they, we, and y’all (this should be more standard in English))2. **Addressing groups of people by a common trait** (students, friends, colleagues, etc.)
Having a way to address multiple people, and for them to know that, is arguably very important!
(I’m not from the South, but I’m a big advocate for the use of “y’all”)
When we want to do that, we just add one character to the end: **们**
**Plural Pronouns**
他 》他们
He > Them (all male or mixed group)
她 》她们
She > Them (all female group)
我 》我们
Me/I > we/us
你 》你们
You > y’all
它 》 它们
It > them (anything that is not a person)
Note:You may have noticed that all the third person pronouns are pronounced EXACTLY the same! For more on that, read here.
**Addressing a Group**
We can also use this when addressing multiple people of the same group/category.
When we do this, it often gives the vibe of “fellow + title/group”, but not always.
Here are some examples:
*同学们 *
fellow classmates
*同事们 *
fellow colleagues
老师们
(fellow) teachers
朋友们
friends
孩子们
children
**Common ways to address people**
-
"*同学们好*”
"*Hello, (fellow) classmates*" - “*谢谢，老师们*” "*Thank you, teachers*”
-
“*朋友们，再见！*”
"*Friends, see you later!*"
When to NOT use "们"
If you are starting to learn characters, you may have noticed that there is a "人" radical on the left side of "们".
**Therefore, we usually only use it when talking about people. **
The only exception being when we say “它们”.
(again, pronouns are a bit special)
**Things we will NOT say：**
- 狗们
- 猫们
- [Any animal/inanimate object] + 们
In which case, by all means...
But in public, maybe don't? lol
But if you want to talk **ABOUT** a group of dogs, we say it like this:
*那些狗很可爱！*
*Those dog are cute!*
*你看到那些狗了吗？它们很可爱！*
*Did you see those dog? They were/are cute!*
You will never need to pluralize “dogs”. :)
Fight the urge!
I know it can be hard not to want to pluralize everything, but I hope this article helped you see why plurals just really aren’t that necessary all the time. And maybe English should do away with them.
Especially all those irregulars. Eek!
Except I’d still like to see English formalize “y’all”. ;)
Let’s axe the plurals of objects and add “y’all”.
Who’s with me? :)
Funny Bonus Content
Here is a really funny video in Chinese about making English easier. (video link)Kevin in Shanghai is pretty funny and his meme game is ON POINT.
Enjoy :)