们 (men): plural marker for pronouns and…

Meanings

1 plural marker for pronouns and some nouns referring to people

Characters

们

men

plural marker for people

亻 (person) + 门 (door) — people at the door, i.e. a group.

Examples

我们去吧。

Wǒmen qù ba.

Let's go.

同学们好！

Tóngxué men hǎo!

Hello, classmates!

Tips

grammar

们 is used with pronouns (我们, 你们, 他们) and sometimes with nouns for people (朋友们, 同学们). Never use 们 with non-human nouns or with a number: 三个学生 (NOT 三个学生们).

Components

radical

亻 rén

person

Left-side person radical, the side-form of 人. Indexes 们 and grounds its grammatical use: the plural suffix attaches only to human-referring pronouns and nouns (我们, 你们, 他们, 同学们, 朋友们). The radical mirrors the restriction — no 们 on inanimate plurals.

phonetic

门 mén

gate; door (here phonetic)

Right-side 门 supplies the sound. Stressed mén toned down to neutral men when 们 was grammaticalised as a plural suffix in the medieval period. A handy mnemonic: people 亻 gathering at a door 门 form a group — but historically the door is just borrowed for sound.