Discussion of 人家 [rén jia] he, she, they, me; other, another

Discussion of 人家

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In this post, we discuss these two pronouns: 人家 and 别人. Many Chinese learners are not sure about how to use them correctly.

1. 别人 can be used to refer to “some people” excluding the speaker and the listener. 人家 can also be used in this sense. For example, 1a below:
E.g. 1a 她是个热心肠的人，看到别人 (or 人家)发愁总要问个为什么。 [phr] She is a warm-hearted person. When she sees that someone else is worried, she always ask (them) why.
别人 can also be used to refer to all the other people excluding the speaker and the listener, or someone else who is not the speaker or the listener. 人家 does not have this meaning. Please look at E.g. 1b and 1c.
E.g. 1b 他保证不会把我们的秘密告诉别人。 [phr] He promised that he would never reveal our secret to anyone.
E.g. 1c 这事儿你还是找别人吧，我帮不了什么忙。 [phr] As for this matter, you'd better ask someone else (for help). I can't be much of a help.’

2. 人家 can be used in the place of a third person pronoun (he, she, they…), or to refer to the speaker him or herself (in most cases, herself). Please note that when 人家 means “I, me”, the sentence is usually said by a young female. 别人 cannot be used in these two meanings.
E.g. 2a 输了就是输了，干嘛还要诽谤人家呢？ [phr] It's true you lost the game. Why defame them?
E.g. 2b 你不认得人家了？ [phr] (said by young female) Don't you recognize me?; Don't you recognize him/her?

lisaC

What other words or phrases can be used instead of "人家" (rénjiā)?

个学生

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