们

men

Pinyin
men
Pinyin (Plain)
men
Strokes
5
Radical
人
Readings
menmenplural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individualsOrder: 0Primary
Stroke Order Code
Speed
Stroke Order Data
["M 207 513 Q 259 577 317 669 Q 342 718 367 741 Q 377 751 372 766 Q 368 779 337 803 Q 309 822 290 822 Q 271 821 279 797 Q 292 766 281 739 Q 244 648 188 563 Q 133 481 59 392 Q 49 382 46 375 Q 42 363 57 366 Q 91 370 187 488 L 207 513 Z", "M 187 488 L 188 486 Q 192 470 199 458 Q 229 395 206 220 Q 199 169 185 115 Q 170 66 207 18 Q 208 15 212 12 Q 231 -4 243 24 Q 258 66 258 114 Q 261 361 270 417 Q 277 445 267 456 Q 249 478 235 492 Q 223 505 207 513 C 181 529 178 516 187 488 Z", "M 448 683 Q 499 613 528 609 Q 541 608 549 627 Q 550 640 542 662 Q 532 680 508 690 Q 469 709 453 712 Q 443 713 442 702 Q 441 693 448 683 Z", "M 354 604 Q 376 553 377 491 Q 383 263 346 141 Q 330 84 364 45 Q 376 30 386 45 Q 419 84 419 234 Q 419 495 432 571 Q 433 590 417 600 Q 395 619 366 628 Q 356 631 350 622 Q 346 615 354 604 Z", "M 592 673 Q 576 674 580 664 Q 586 651 607 641 Q 620 632 643 636 Q 685 649 735 662 Q 757 663 767 650 Q 780 643 785 580 Q 798 369 786 129 Q 786 95 772 84 Q 756 71 669 91 Q 653 92 654 83 Q 655 76 669 71 Q 745 26 786 -10 Q 808 -29 820 -26 Q 833 -23 843 6 Q 858 52 855 117 Q 839 445 840 567 Q 841 606 853 629 Q 866 650 856 661 Q 846 677 800 701 Q 782 711 711 692 Q 603 674 592 673 Z"]
Meaning
“们” is a plural marker used after personal pronouns and many human nouns to show “more than one,” like turning “我 (I)” into “我们 (we)” or “学生 (student)” into “学生们 (students). It does not go with most non-human nouns, so you usually don’t use it with things like objects, animals, or abstract ideas.
Metadata
Locale: en
Cached At: 3/24/2026, 1:07:27 PM

Usage

The character “们” is most commonly used in modern Mandarin as a plural marker for people and personal pronouns. Learners usually meet it very early with pronouns like 我 (I), 你 (you), 他/她/它 (he/she/it), turning them into 我们 (we), 你们 (you plural), 他们 / 她们 / 它们 (they). It’s also used with some human nouns or titles to indicate a group, such as 孩子们 (children), 同学们 (students/classmates), 老师们 (teachers), 朋友们 (friends). In these cases, it emphasizes “these people as a group” rather than just a neutral plural. Unlike English “-s,” “们” isn’t attached to every noun to mean more than one; many nouns are simply made plural by context (for example, 我有书 “I have book/books” doesn’t need 们). It also doesn’t attach to non-human things in most natural speech—*桌子们 for “tables” sounds wrong or at best playful. So learners are usually told: treat “们” as a special suffix mostly for pronouns and for words referring to people, especially when you want to stress “you all,” “dear friends,” or “students” as an addressed group (e.g., 同学们，好!).

Handwriting Notes

“们” in handwriting is usually compact and slightly taller than it is wide, with the left side “亻” (the person radical) written slim and vertical, and the right side “门” forming a more open, box‑like shape. In everyday writing, the vertical line of “亻” may lean a bit, and the small hook at the bottom can be very light or almost just a tiny bend. The “门” part is often simplified further: the top and left strokes may be written in one fluid motion, and the inner vertical stroke can be shortened or even look like a simple dot or short line, as long as the overall “door-frame” impression remains. These small variations in slant, length, and connectedness are normal across people’s handwriting styles. Modern AI handwriting recognition systems are trained to handle this range of handwritten forms and still identify them correctly as the character “们.”

Description

们 is a simplified Chinese character used after personal pronouns and some nouns to mark the plural (e.g., 我们 “we,” 他们 “they”). It is pronounced “men” (second tone).

Common Words

  • 们men5plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals
  • 人们ren2 men5people
  • 亲们qin1 men5darlings
  • 哥们ge1 men5Brothers!
  • 他们ta1 men5they; them

Example Sentences

我喜欢们。

wo3 xi3 huan5 men5

I like plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals.

人们很常见。

ren2 men5 hen3 chang2 jian4

人们 is very common.

我们在学习亲们。

wo3 men5 zai4 xue2 xi2 qin1 men5

We are learning darlings.

这个哥们很重要。

zhe4 ge5 ge1 men5 hen3 zhong4 yao4

This Brothers! is important.

请写一下“们”。

qing3 xie3 yi1 xia4 men5

Please write '们'.

Try writing this character