你
you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.)
Closest English meanings
you
The Calligrapher — Kǒng Línzhī 孔琳之
Liu Song calligrapher famed with Yang Xin as 'Yang-true, Kong-grass'; master of cursive script
南朝宋 calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 《日月帖》. Liu Song dynasty (Southern Dynasties)
Cultural Story
你 as the familiar "you" is relatively late; old letters used 尔 or 汝. By the Ming novels 你 appears constantly — in the 水浒传 a brother calls 你 by name, and 你好 opens a meeting. The plural 你们 gathers a crowd. To write 你 is to turn and face the person spoken to.
Common words & phrases
- 你们 you (plural)
- 你好 hello
- 你的 your
- 你俩 you two
- 迷你 mini
Read the story behind the character
A shopkeeper says 你好 as you enter; 你的 phone buzzes with a message. 你们 two share a table, and the ad reads 迷你 for a small speaker. On the street a friend calls 你 across the road. Address, ownership, and the small scale of things all sit inside this everyday word.
Own this character
Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Kǒng Línzhī 孔琳之, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.