你 (nǐ) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

你

nǐ[ni3]Tone 3

you

HSK 1

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妳

Multiple Readings (多音字):

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English · you

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:7

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (亻) should be narrower and slightly elevated, leaving ample space for the complex right component (尔) to maintain overall visual harmony.

Simplification Logic: The simplified form 你 and the traditional form 妳 share the same left radical, but 妳 specifically features the female radical (女) on the right in Taiwanese writing, whereas mainland simplified standard uses 尔 on the right for all genders.

1. Meaning

you (second-person singular pronoun)

respectful address (when used as 您nín, though 你 is standard informal)one, someone (generic usage in idioms)

PronounNeutral#pronouns#personal relationships

Sample Usage

你好！
nǐ hǎo!
Hello!
你叫什么名字？
nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
What is your name?

2. Sound

/[ni²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

你

nǐni3

ˇ(214)

=nǐ

Initial Consonant

Type: Alveolar Nasal

Sounds like: n sound in 'no'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Air passes completely through nose.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tip of the tongue pressed against the alveolar ridge just behind the upper front teeth.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: ee sound in 'see'

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ee'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T3 (214)

2 → 1 → 4 (214)

3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 dips down like asking 'Huh?' in disbelief before rising up.

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, it changes to a 2nd tone (rising 35), e.g., nǐ hǎo becomes ní hǎo.

👂

Listening trap: Beginners often rush the low dip and make it sound like a flat 1st tone or a sharp 4th tone.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down from your starting pitch, then sweep upward.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 7 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (亻) should be narrower and slightly elevated, leaving ample space for the complex right component (尔) to maintain overall visual harmony.

4. Components

Radical 亻 · Person radical (Human being, person)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 亻 (Indicates that the word relates to a human person.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 尔 (original sound: er / ni)

A human being (亻) points to you (尔).

亻 Person
尔 You / phonetic clue

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally written as 尔 to mean 'you', later augmented with the human radical 亻 on the left to explicitly designate a personal pronoun referring to human beings.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from an archaic demonstrative/pronoun meaning into the modern universal second-person singular pronoun.

In classical Chinese, other pronouns like 汝 (rǔ) were more common, but 你 solidified as the standard in vernacular Mandarin.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

A **person** (亻) points directly at **you** and says 'nǐ'!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

尔

ěrthus, so, youWithout the person radical on the left.

称

chēngto weigh, to callReplaces the right side with 禾 (grain).

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

我(wǒ)

我 means 'I/me' and features a weapon/hand radical, whereas 你 means 'you' and features a person radical.

他(tā)

他 means 'he/him' and uses the same person radical亻 but has 也 on the right.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

___ 好！

Clue: nǐ

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting that Tone 3 changes when spoken naturally before another Tone 3 syllable (Sandhi rule), leading learners to pronounce it robotically with a deep dip every time.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see the character 你, what does it mean and how is it pronounced?

Production: How do you write the Mandarin pronoun for 'you' using the person radical?

你nǐyou

Speed:

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