If you have learned some languages, you will want to ask a question like this: what can I do to express something in this language.
Different languages have different answers.
Far from being completed.
pronoun
Note: every “word” is in nominative case.
How to indicate the speaker?
By the first-person singular pronoun.
Are there different first-person singular pronouns for different use?
No.
| language
|
word
|
note
|
| Amharic
|
እኔ
|
|
| Arabic
|
أَنَا
|
|
| Basque
|
ni
|
|
| Bengali
|
আমি
|
|
| Chinese
|
我
|
|
| English
|
I
|
|
| French
|
je
|
|
| German
|
ich
|
|
| Hausa
|
ni
|
|
| Hebrew
|
אֲנִי
|
|
| Hindi
|
मैं; हम
|
|
| Italian
|
io
|
|
| Javanese
|
aku
|
|
| Kabyle
|
nekk
|
|
| Kannada
|
ನಾನು
|
|
| Malayalam
|
ഞാന്
|
|
| Marathi
|
मी
|
|
| Mon
|
အဲ
|
|
| Portuguese
|
eu
|
|
| Punjabi
|
ਮੈਂ
|
|
| Russian
|
я
|
|
| Spanish
|
yo
|
|
| Swahili
|
mimi
|
|
| Tamil
|
நான்
|
|
| Telugu
|
నేను
|
|
| Tigrinya
|
ኣነ
|
|
| Turkish
|
ben
|
|
| Urdu
|
ہم; میں
|
|
Yes.
| language
|
word
|
note
|
| Burmese
|
ကျွန်တော်; ကျွန်မ; ငါ; ကျုပ်
|
formal, male; formal, female; informal; more polite
|
| Indonesian
|
saya; aku
|
formal; informal
|
| Japanese
|
私(わたし); 私(わたくし); 僕; あたし; 俺
|
common; formal; informal; female; male
|
| Khmer
|
ខ្ញុំ; ខ្ញុំបាទ; នាងខ្; ខ្ញុំព្រះករុណា; ខ្ញុំព្រះអង្គ; ខ្ញុំម្ចាស់
|
common; formal, male; formal, female; royalty; royalty, male; royalty, female
|
| Korean
|
나; 저
|
common; formal
|
| Malay
|
saya; aku; daku; hamba; patik; beta
|
formal; informal; poetic; lowest social strata; facing royalties; royalties
|
| Thai
|
ผม; ดิฉัน; ฉัน; กระหม่อม; ข้าพเจ้า; หนู; กู
|
male; female; informal; more formal; more formal; child to adult; crude
|
| Tsafiki
|
la; čiʰké; če
|
adult male; adult female; immature
|
| Vietnamese
|
tôi; tớ; ta; mình
|
common; informal; informal; intimate
|
How to indicate the listener?
By the second-person singular pronoun.
Are there different second-person singular pronouns for different use?
No.
| language
|
word
|
note
|
| English
|
you
|
|
| Malayalam
|
നീ
|
|
| Mon
|
ဗှ်ေ
|
|
| Swahili
|
wewe
|
|
| Tibetan
|
ཁྱེད་རང
|
|
| Vietnamese
|
bạn
|
|
Yes.
| language
|
word
|
note
|
| Amharic
|
አንተ; አንቺ; እርስዎ
|
to male; to female; formal
|
| Arabic
|
أَنْتَ ; أَنْتِ ; حَضْرَتَك ; حَضْرَتِك
|
to male; to female; to male, formal; to female, formal
|
| Bengali
|
তুই; তুমি; আপনি
|
informal; intimate; formal
|
| Burmese
|
နင်; မင်း; ခင်ဗျား; ရှင်
|
informal; informal; formal, by male; formal, by female
|
| Chinese Mandarin
|
你; 您
|
informal; formal
|
| French
|
tu; vous
|
informal; formal
|
| German
|
du; Sie
|
informal; formal
|
| Hebrew
|
אַתָּה; אַתְּ
|
to male; to female
|
| Hindi
|
तू; तुम; आप
|
informal; polite; more polite
|
| Italian
|
tu; lei
|
informal; formal
|
| Japanese
|
貴方; 君; お前; あんた; てまえ; 貴様
|
polite; familiar; intimate or rude; by female or by older male; vulgar, by male; insulting
|
| Khmer
|
លោក; លោកស្រី; នាងស្រី; អ្នក
|
to male or Buddhist monk; to older female; to younger female; common
|
| Korean
|
당신; 너; 네; 자네
|
common; informal; informal; to low social strata
|
| Malay
|
kamu; awak; anda; dikau; engkau
|
common; informal; formal; poetic; poetic, informal
|
| Portuguese
|
tu; você
|
familiar in Portugal, rarely used in Brazil; polite in Portugal, general in Brazil
|
| Russian
|
ты; Вы; вы
|
familiar; polite; polite
|
| Spanish
|
tú; usted; vos
|
familiar; polite; familiar
|
| Tamil
|
நீ; நீங்கள்; தாங்கள்
|
familiar; polite; more polite
|
| Telugu
|
నీవు; మీరు
|
familiar; polite
|
| Thai
|
คุณ; เธอ; มึง; เอ็ง; ท่าน; นาย; หล่อน; เรา; โยม; ประสก; สีกา
|
colloquial; polite; vulgar, familiar; less vulgar, familiar; colloquial; colloquial, to male; colloquial, to female; elder to younger; vulgar; priest to layperson; priest to layman; priest to laywoman
|
| Tigrinya
|
ንስኻ; ንስኺ; ንስኹም; ንስኽን
|
informal, to male; informal, to female; formal, to male; formal, to female
|
| Turkish
|
sen; siz
|
familiar; polite
|
| Urdu
|
آپ; تم; تو
|
formal; less informal; informal
|
| Yoruba
|
ìwọ; ệyin
|
informal; formal
|
How to indicate a person being neither the speaker nor the listener?
By the third-person singular pronoun.
Are there different third-person singular pronouns for different use?
No.
| language
|
word
|
note
|
| Hindi
|
वह; यह
|
|
| Persian
|
او
|
|
| Turkish
|
o
|
|
| Urdu
|
وہ; يہ
|
|
Yes.
| language
|
word
|
note
|
| Amharic
|
እሱ; እሷ; እሳቸው
|
male or non-human; female; polite
|
| Arabic
|
هُوَ; هِيَ
|
male or masculine non-human; female or feminine non-human
|
| Burmese
|
သူ; သူမ
|
male or colloquial female or non-human; formal female
|
| Chinese Mandarin
|
他; 她; 它
|
male; female; non-human
|
| English
|
he; she; it
|
male; female; non-human
|
| French
|
il; elle; ce; ça
|
male or masculine non-human; female or feminine non-human; non-human; non-human
|
| German
|
er; sie; es
|
male or masculine non-human; female or feminine non-human; neuter non-human
|
| Hebrew
|
הוא; היא; זֶה; זֹאת
|
male; female; masculine non-human; feminine non-human
|
| Italian
|
lui; lei; esso; essa; egli; ella
|
male; female; masculine non-human; feminine non-human; male, literary; female, literary
|
| Japanese
|
彼; 彼女
|
male; female
|
| Kannada
|
ಇವನು; ಇವ; ಅವನು; ಅವ; ಇವಳು; ಅವಳು; ಇದು; ಅದು
|
this male; this male; that male; that male; this female; that female; this non-human; that non-human
|
| Khmer
|
គាត់; គេ; នាង; វា
|
polite; polite, male or female; referring to a younger woman; non-human or referring to young children or people of lower rank
|
| Korean
|
그; 그이; 그녀
|
male or female; polite, male; female
|
| Malay
|
dia; ia; baginda; beliau
|
male or female; male or female or non-human; for kings, queens and Muslim prophets; for notable people
|
| Portuguese
|
ele; ela
|
male or masculine non-human; female or feminine non-human
|
| Russian
|
он; она́; оно́
|
male of masculine non-human; female or feminine non-human; neuter non-human
|
| Spanish
|
él; ella; ello
|
male or masculine non-human; female or feminine non-human; neuter non-human
|
| Tigrinya
|
ንሱ; ንሳ
|
male or non-human; female
|
| Vietnamese
|
anh ấy; ông ấy; chị ấy; cô ấy; bà ấy; hắn; nó
|
young male; older or respected male; young female or older than the speaker; young female; older or respected female; informal or pejorative; child or non-human
|
How to indicate non-human in languages without third-person non-human pronoun?
By demonstrative pronouns.
| language
|
word
|
note
|
| Japanese
|
それ
|
thing near the listener
|
| Korean
|
그것
|
thing near the listener
|
How to indicate people including the speaker and excluding the listener?
By the first-person plural pronoun (exclusive “we”).
Are there different first-person plural pronouns (exclusive “we”) for different use?
No.
| language
|
word
|
note
|
| Amharic
|
እኛ
|
|
| Arabic
|
نَحْنُ
|
|
| Basque
|
gu
|
|
| Bengali
|
আমরা
|
|
| Chinese Mandarin
|
我們/我们
|
|
| English
|
we
|
|
| German
|
wir
|
|
| Hausa
|
múu
|
|
| Hindi
|
हम
|
|
| Italian
|
noi
|
|
| Kannada
|
ನಾವು
|
|
| Khmer
|
យើង
|
|
| Malay
|
kami
|
|
| Mon
|
ပိုဲ
|
|
| Russian
|
мы
|
|
| Swahili
|
sisi
|
|
| Tamil
|
நாங்கள்
|
|
| Telugu
|
మేము
|
|
| Tigrinya
|
ንሕና
|
|
| Turkish
|
biz
|
|
| Urdu
|
ہم
|
|
| Vietnamese
|
chúng ta
|
|
Yes.
| language
|
word
|
note
|
| Bislama
|
mitupela; mitripela; mipela
|
dual; triple; plural
|
| Burmese
|
ကျုပ်တို့; တို့; ကျွန်တော်တို့; ကျွန်မတို့; ငါတို့
|
informal; informal; formal, by male; formal, by female; informal
|
| French
|
nous; on
|
formal; informal
|
| Hebrew
|
אֲנַחְנוּ; אָנוּ
|
formal; informal
|
| Japanese
|
私達; 僕ら; 僕達; 我ら
|
common; informal, humble; informal, ; formal, rarely used
|
| Korean
|
우리; 저희
|
common; humble
|
| Portuguese
|
nós; a gente
|
common; informal
|
| Spanish
|
nosotros; nosotras
|
masculine; feminine
|
| Tok Pisin
|
mitupela; mitripela; mipela
|
dual; triple; plural
|
How to indicate people excluding the speaker and including the listener?
By the second-person plural pronoun.
Are there different second-person plural pronouns for different use?
No.
Yes.
How to indicate people including the speaker and the listener?
By the first-person plural pronoun (inclusive “we”).
Are there different first-person plural pronouns (inclusive “we”) for different use?
No.
| language
|
word
|
note
|
| Arabic
|
نَحْنُ
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yes.
How to indicate people excluding the speaker and the listener?
By the third-person plural pronoun.
Are there different third-person plural pronouns for different use?
No.
Yes.
Are “exclusive we” and “inclusive we” different words?
No.
Yes.
