Comparing "renjia" and "bieren"

When describing others, we can use the word 人家 (rénjia) or 别人 (biéren). But 人家 also has other grammatical uses, which we will explore in this article.

Both mean "others"

人家 and 别人 both refer to others besides the speaker and the listener. However, 人家 is more colloquial.

Structure

Verb + 人家／别人

Examples

These sentences mean the same thing:

• 我 不 在乎 人家 怎么 说。Slightly more colloquial
• 我 不 在乎 别人 怎么 说。I don't care what other people say.

人家 can mean "I"

人家 can be used to refer to yourself, and it is often used this way by women, giving it a sort of girly, shy, tender feeling.

Structure

人家 + [Rest of Sentence]

Examples

• 因为 人家 喜欢 你 嘛。Because I like you!
• 讨厌，老是 拿 人家 开玩笑 。You meanie, always making fun of me.

人家 can mean a certain "him" or "her"

人家 can also refer to someone previously referred to (in the context of the conversation or body of text) or it can refer to a certain someone that both the speaker and listener know.

Structure

Subj. + Verb + 人家

Examples

• 你 快 去 给 人家 道歉。Quickly go and apologize to her.
• 你 看 人家 升职 升 得 多 快，你呢？You see him getting promoted quickly. What about you?

人家 can mean "residents"

人家 can also mean residents or inhabitants.

Examples

• 这里 很 少 有 人家 。There are very few residents here.
• 前面 有 一 户 人家，我们 去 看看 吧 。There's a family out front. Let's go see them.

Sources and further reading

Books

• 对外汉语教学语法释疑201例 (人家vs别人 p.81) →buy

• 现代汉语八百词（增订本） (人家p.463) →buy

Dictionaries

• 现代汉语词典（第5版） (人家1145) →buy