ENESFRDE中文

Characters, words, pinyin or English

咱 zán we

we; you and I

How to remember 咱: 口 mouth + 自 self = we. With cream all over her mouth, the little girl takes a selfie with Grandpa and giggles "Look what we did to the cake."

  • 1,265. most frequent character
  • HSK 3
  • 9 strokes
  • Radical 口

Component breakdown

咱 = 口 mouth + 自 self

  • 口 mouth
  • 自 self
The Gushi story

With cream all over her mouth, the little girl takes a selfie with Grandpa and giggles "Look what we did to the cake."

How it is used

  • A friendly, northern 'we' that ALWAYS includes the listener - 咱们走吧 (zánmen zǒu ba) let's (you and I) go.
  • This is the key contrast with 我们 (wǒmen), which may or may not include the person you're talking to; 咱/咱们 is unambiguously inclusive and warm.
  • Colloquial and Beijing-flavored; almost always appears as 咱们 (or dialectal 咱 zán meaning 'I/we').

Words with 咱

Example sentences

  • 咱们北京见！ Zánmen Běijīng jiàn!Let's meet in Beijing.