<!DOCTYPE html> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta name="generator" content= "HTML Tidy for HTML5 for Linux version 5.2.0" /> <title></title> </head> <body> <p>When describing others, we can use the word 人家 (rénjia) or 别人 (biéren). But 人家 also has other grammatical uses, which we will explore in this article.</p> <h2 id="both-mean-others">Both mean "others"</h2> <p>人家 and 别人 both refer to others besides the speaker and the listener. However, 人家 is more colloquial.</p> <h3 id="structure">Structure</h3> <div class="jiegou"> <p>Verb + 人家／别人</p> </div> <h3 id="examples">Examples</h3> <p>These sentences mean the same thing:</p> <div class="liju"> <ul> <li>我 不 在乎 <em>人家</em> 怎么 说。<span class="expl">Slightly more colloquial</span></li> <li>我 不 在乎 <em>别人</em> 怎么 说。<span class="trans">I don't care what other people say.</span></li> </ul> </div> <h2 id="人家-can-mean-i">人家 can mean "I"</h2> <p>人家 can be used to refer to yourself, and it is often used this way by women, giving it a sort of girly, shy, tender feeling.</p> <h3 id="structure-1">Structure</h3> <div class="jiegou"> <p>人家 + [Rest of Sentence]</p> </div> <h3 id="examples-1">Examples</h3> <div class="liju"> <ul> <li>因为 <em>人家</em> 喜欢 你 嘛。<span class="trans">Because I like you!</span></li> <li>讨厌，老是 拿 <em>人家</em> 开玩笑 。<span class="trans">You meanie, always making fun of me.</span></li> </ul> </div> <h2 id="人家-can-mean-a-certain-him-or-her">人家 can mean a certain "him" or "her"</h2> <p>人家 can also refer to someone previously referred to (in the context of the conversation or body of text) or it can refer to a certain someone that both the speaker and listener know.</p> <h3 id="structure-2">Structure</h3> <div class="jiegou"> <p>Subj. + Verb + 人家</p> </div> <h3 id="examples-2">Examples</h3> <div class="liju"> <ul> <li>你 快 去 给 <em>人家</em> 道歉。<span class="trans">Quickly go and apologize to her.</span></li> <li>你 看 <em>人家</em> 升职 升 得 多 快，你呢？<span class="trans">You see him getting promoted quickly. What about you?</span></li> </ul> </div> <h2 id="人家-can-mean-residents">人家 can mean "residents"</h2> <p>人家 can also mean residents or inhabitants.</p> <h3 id="examples-3">Examples</h3> <div class="liju"> <ul> <li>这里 很 少 有 <em>人家</em> 。<span class="trans">There are very few residents here.</span></li> <li>前面 有 一 户 <em>人家</em>，我们 去 看看 吧 。<span class="trans">There's a family out front. Let's go see them.</span></li> </ul> </div> <h2 id="sources-and-further-reading">Sources and further reading</h2> <h3 id="books">Books</h3> <ul> <li><a href= "%E5%AF%B9%E5%A4%96%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD%E6%95%99%E5%AD%A6%E8%AF%AD%E6%B3%95%E9%87%8A%E7%96%91201%E4%BE%8B" class="uri" title="wikilink">对外汉语教学语法释疑201例</a> (人家vs别人 p.81) <a href= "http://www.amazon.cn/%E7%8E%B0%E4%BB%A3%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD%E5%85%AB%E7%99%BE%E8%AF%8D/dp/B001198GSW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345693275&sr=8-1"> →buy</a></li> </ul> <ul> <li><a href= "%E7%8E%B0%E4%BB%A3%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD%E5%85%AB%E7%99%BE%E8%AF%8D%EF%BC%88%E5%A2%9E%E8%AE%A2%E6%9C%AC%EF%BC%89" class="uri" title="wikilink">现代汉语八百词（增订本）</a> (人家p.463) <a href= "http://www.amazon.cn/%E7%8E%B0%E4%BB%A3%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD%E5%85%AB%E7%99%BE%E8%AF%8D/dp/B001198GSW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345693275&sr=8-1"> →buy</a></li> </ul> <h3 id="dictionaries">Dictionaries</h3> <ul> <li><a href= "%E7%8E%B0%E4%BB%A3%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD%E8%AF%8D%E5%85%B8%EF%BC%88%E7%AC%AC5%E7%89%88%EF%BC%89" class="uri" title="wikilink">现代汉语词典（第5版）</a> (人家1145) <a href= "http://www.amazon.cn/%E7%8E%B0%E4%BB%A3%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD%E8%AF%8D%E5%85%B8/dp/B001B1RZCI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345693609&sr=8-1"> →buy</a></li> </ul> <p><a href="Category:grammar_comparison" title= "wikilink">Category:grammar comparison</a></p> </body> </html>