它 (tā): it

Meanings

1 it

Characters

它

tā

it

Contains 宀 (roof) - originally depicted a snake under a roof.

Examples

HSK 1

它在哪里？

Tā zài nǎlǐ?

Where is it?

HSK 2

这是我的猫，它叫小白。

Zhè shì wǒ de māo, tā jiào Xiǎobái.

This is my cat, it's called Xiaobai.

HSK 2

这本书很好，你应该看看它。

Zhè běn shū hěn hǎo, nǐ yīnggāi kànkan tā.

This book is great, you should read it.

Tips

grammar

Chinese has three third-person pronouns, all pronounced tā: 他 (he), 她 (she), 它 (it). They sound identical but are written differently.

usage

它 is used for animals and objects. For people, use 他 (male) or 她 (female).

Components

radical

宀 mián

roof; house

Roof radical on top - the indexing radical. 它 was originally a pictograph of a snake (now written 蛇), and the 宀 'roof' represented the home. Together: 'house-snake', a household pest one had to watch out for.

semantic

匕 bǐ

spoon (here: snake body)

Bottom 匕 - here a stylised snake body, originally a curling form depicting the serpent's coiled posture. The whole picture: a snake under the eaves. The pictographic origin survives only in etymology; modern usage is purely the inanimate pronoun 'it', borrowed via sound.