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他家 (tā jiā) — someone else's home; somebody else's place

Definition

他家 literally means 'his/their home' but in conversation it almost always refers to someone else's home — the family being talked about, not yours. In context, example 3 shows it can even mean 'their family' (their yard) rather than a place.

noun
someone else's homesomebody else's place
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 他家。
    Zhōu mò wǒ qù tā jiā chī fàn.
    I'm going to someone else's home for dinner this weekend.
  • 他家？
    Nǐ cháng qù tā jiā zuò kè ma?
    Do you often visit other people's homes as a guest?
  • 他家。
    tā jiā De yuàn zi bǐ wǒ men de dà.
    Their yard (the other family's yard) is bigger than ours.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
也
也yě他tā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

他 combines 亻 (a person) with 也, which was chosen for its sound.

Open 他 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →
Appears in
Home & Housing

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