In short

Chinese has one set of personal pronouns - 我 (wǒ, I/me), 你 (nǐ, you), 他/她/它 (tā, he/she/it) - and you make any of them plural just by adding 们 (men): 我们 (wǒmen, we). Pronouns never change for subject or object, and never conjugate. To say “A and B” you link two nouns with 和 (hé, and) - but 和 joins nouns only, never two verbs or two sentences.

The rule

Step 1 - Learn the six pronouns (one form does everything)

There is no I vs me, no he vs him. 我 is both “I” and “me”; 你 is subject and object alike:

• 我看你。 (Wǒ kàn nǐ.) - I see you.
• 你看我。 (Nǐ kàn wǒ.) - You see me.

The full set: 我 (wǒ) I/me, 你 (nǐ) you, 您 (nín) you, polite, 他 (tā) he/him, 她 (tā) she/her, 它 (tā) it. Note that 他、她、它 are all pronounced tā - you only choose the character when you write.

Use 您 (nín) to address one older person, a customer, or a stranger you want to respect. It is the polite singular “you”.

Step 2 - Make it plural with 们

Add the suffix 们 (men, neutral tone) to a pronoun to pluralise it - the pronoun itself does not change:

Pronoun + 们 -> 我们 (wǒmen) we, 你们 (nǐmen) you all, 他们 (tāmen) they.

For a mixed-gender group, use 他们; use 她们 only when everyone is female. 们 attaches to people, so you also see it on human nouns (朋友们 péngyoumen friends, 老师们 lǎoshīmen teachers), but almost never on things.

Step 3 - 我们 or 咱们?

Both mean “we”, but 咱们 (zánmen) is inclusive - it always includes the person you are talking to (“you and I”). 我们 may or may not include the listener. When in doubt, 我们 is always safe.

• 咱们走吧。 (Zánmen zǒu ba.) - Let’s go (you and me together).

Step 4 - Join two nouns with 和

The pattern is simply Noun + 和 + Noun:

• 咖啡和茶 (kāfēi hé chá) - coffee and tea
• 你和我 (nǐ hé wǒ) - you and I

Two colloquial and formal cousins say the same thing: spoken 跟 (gēn) and written 与 (yǔ). For three or more items, put the enumeration comma 、 between items and 和 before the last one only: A、B 和 C.

Step 5 - 和 joins NOUNS, never clauses or verbs

This is the rule that trips up every English speaker. English “and” links anything - nouns, verbs, whole sentences. 和 links only nouns and pronouns. To connect two actions or two statements, Chinese does not use 和; it uses sequence words like 然后 (ránhòu, then), an adverb like 也 (yě, also), or simply a comma. So I got up and ate is 我起床，然后吃饭 - never 我起床和吃饭.

Forms & patterns

The pronoun paradigm:

The three ways to say “and” (between nouns):

Joins nouns, not clauses:

Examples

Common mistakes

• 我起床和吃早饭。 -> 我起床，然后吃早饭。 - 和 links nouns, not two actions; for a sequence of verbs use 然后 (ránhòu, then) or just a comma.
• 他累和我累。 -> 他累，我也累。 - never join two clauses with 和; use 也 (yě, also) or separate them with a comma.
• 爸爸和妈妈和我 -> 爸爸、妈妈和我 - with three or more items, use 、 between them and 和 only before the last, not 和 after every noun.
• 您们请坐。 -> 你们请坐。 - 您 has no standard plural (您们 is nonstandard); the polite plural falls back to 你们 or 各位 (gèwèi, everyone).
• 五个老师们 -> 五个老师 - do not add 们 when a number already marks plural; 们 and a counted quantity are mutually exclusive.

Tips

• 他 / 她 / 它 sound identical - all tā. You never hear the difference; you only pick the character when writing (and 他 covers a mixed group).
• Pronouns never inflect. There is no me, him, us: 我看你 / 你看我 uses one form for subject and object. Nothing to memorise here - that’s the good news of Chinese grammar.
• 和 = “and” only between nouns. If the English “and” sits between two verbs or two sentences, delete 和 and reach for 然后, 也, or a comma instead.
• Register ladder: default to 和 (hé); use 跟 (gēn) in casual talk, 与 (yǔ) in formal writing. On the Mainland 和 is read hé (you may hear it as hàn in Taiwan - same character).