牠 (tā) - It — third-person singular pronoun for animals (archaic/obsolete

牠Tone 1

tā ｜ 7 strokes ｜ radical: 牜

树檀

牠 · tā

It — third-person singular pronoun for animals (archaic/obsolete variant of 它 for non-human entities).

It — third-person singular pronoun for animals (archaic/obsolete

Usage highlights

ItsFor animalsAnimal pronounNon

Synonyms

  • 它— it (for non-human entities)
  • 他— he/him (for male humans)
  • 她— she/her (for female humans)

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The dog is eating its (牠的) food.
  • We should care for the animal and its (牠的) habitat.
  • In classical texts, 牠 referred to animals (动物).

Collocations

  • Its(牠的)
  • For animals(用于动物)
  • Animal pronoun(动物代词)
  • Non-human it(非人的它)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • Originally used as a gender-neutral third-person pronoun for animals in early 20th century Chinese.
  • Now largely obsolete and replaced by 它 in modern Simplified Chinese.
  • Still occasionally seen in classical texts or specific dialectal usage.

FAQ