Comparing "renjia" and "bieren"

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

Used as "others"

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

人家 and 别人 are interchangeable in these sentences below.

• 我 不 在乎 人家 怎么 说 。Wǒ bù zàihu rénjia zěnme shuō.I don't care about what other people say.
• 别人 怎么 想 我 怎么 知道 ？Biérén zěnme xiǎng wǒ zěnme zhīdào?How possibly can I know what other people think?
• 那 是 人家 的 事 ，你 管 那么 多 干嘛 ？Nà shì rénjia de shì, nǐ guǎn nàme duō gàn ma?That's other people's business. Why would you care so much?

Multiple Meanings of 人家

人家 as "I" or "me"

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.

• 因为 人家 喜欢 你 啊 。Yīnwèi rénjia xǐhuan nǐ a.Because I like you!
• 讨厌 ！老是 拿 人家 开玩笑 。Tǎoyàn! Lǎo shì ná rénjia kāiwánxiào.You are annoying, always making fun of me.

人家 as "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.

• 你 快 给 人家 道歉 。Nǐ kuài gěi rénjia dàoqiàn.Apologize to her now.
• 你 看 人家 多 聪明 ！Nǐ kàn rénjia duō cōngming!Look at him! How smart he is!

人家 as "residents"

人家 can also refer to households. In this case, it's pronounced as "rénjiā." This use is going to be the least common in everyday spoken Chinese.

• 这个 小区 有 多少 户 人家 ？Zhège xiǎoqū yǒu duōshǎo hù rénjiā?How many household are here in this compartment?
• 村子 里 现在 只 剩 十 户 人家 了 。Cūnzi lǐ xiànzài zhī shèng shí hù rénjiā le.There are only ten households left in this village.

Sources and further reading

Books

• 对外汉语教学语法释疑201例 (pp. 81) [ →buy]
• 现代汉语八百词（增订本） (pp. 463) [ →buy]

Dictionaries

• 现代汉语词典（第5版） (pp. 1145) 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 →buy