Definitions
(pronoun)
it
Etymology
Pictograph of a snake, now written as 蛇. The current use as a pronoun is a phonetic loan.
About
The character "它" has an origin as a pictograph representing a snake, with its early form suggesting a creature with a prominent head and coiled body. This original sense of a serpent later broadened to signify "other" or "another", a meaning now preserved in the related character "蛇" for snake. During the classical period, "它" was phonetically borrowed to serve as a third-person pronoun, specifically for inanimate objects or abstract concepts, thereby filling a gap in the language's pronoun system. Its use distinguished non-human referents from the human "他" (he) and "她" (she), a semantic specialization that became standardized over centuries. A traditional variant, "牠", incorporating the ox radical, was later created to specify non-human animals, though "它" remains the general and most common form for the inanimate "it".
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
它是一只猫。
它非常聪明。
它在吃食物。
它的眼睛很亮。
它比兔子跑得快。
如果你善待它，它会亲近你。
它被训练成导盲犬。
尽管它受伤了，但仍坚持工作。