You in Chinese: 你 vs 您 and Polite Address

“You” in Chinese is 你 (nǐ). The polite form is 您 (nín, ㄋㄧㄣˊ), a plural is 你們 (nǐmen), and in Taiwanese writing a woman can be addressed as 妳 (nǐ), which sounds exactly like 你.

In Taiwan, politeness usually comes from how you name the person, with a title such as 老師, 阿姨 or 王經理, and 您 is a secondary tool. Learners who use 您 with everyone sound correct but a little stiff, and those who use 你 with a stranger twice their age risk sounding casual. The skill is knowing which setting you are in.

The forms at a glance

Form	Reading	Zhuyin	Use
你	nǐ	ㄋㄧˇ	default “you”
您	nín	ㄋㄧㄣˊ	polite “you”
妳	nǐ	ㄋㄧˇ	written “you” for a woman
你們	nǐmen	ㄋㄧˇ ˙ㄇㄣ	you (plural)
各位	gèwèi	ㄍㄜˋ ㄨㄟˋ	everyone, polite address to a group

你 and 您

The Ministry of Education dictionary describes 您 as the respectful form of “you”, used mostly toward elders. It is read nín, and the Zhuyin is ㄋㄧㄣˊ. You can type it by entering ㄋㄧㄣˊ in a Zhuyin input method, or nin in pinyin.

Use 您 for:

• customers, when you work in a shop, restaurant, bank or hotel
• elders you do not know well
• a teacher or senior person you are writing to for the first time
• emails and formal messages, as in 您好 and 謝謝您

Use 你 for:

• friends, classmates, partners, family members of your own generation
• colleagues of similar rank
• children and younger people
• most daily conversation

Using 您 with a peer or close friend can feel distant, and some speakers use it jokingly. Using 你 in a formal email to someone senior may read as careless. When you are unsure, 您 in writing is the safer choice, and in speech a title (see below) carries the respect.

How often 您 is spoken in Taiwan

You will hear 您 on customer-service lines and in announcements, and you will read it in letters, invitations and formal messages. In casual conversation, plain 你 is the norm in Taiwan, even toward people somewhat older, and respect is shown through titles and polite verbs (請, 麻煩) more than through the pronoun. This is a general tendency, and individual speakers vary by age, region and family. See formal Chinese messages in Taiwan for 您 in writing.

A practical rule for learners: use 您 in writing to anyone you would address with a title, and in speech to a customer or an unfamiliar elder. Everywhere else, use 你.

Talking to a group

你們 (nǐmen) is the neutral plural. For a polite address to a group, 各位 (gèwèi, “everyone”) is the usual choice, as in 各位好 or 各位同學. The dictionary glosses it as 諸位、每一位.

Politeness through titles

Instead of a pronoun, address the person by title. In Taiwan this is the main way to show respect, and it lets you avoid “you” altogether.

Person	Address	Note
teacher or instructor	老師 / 王老師	used for teachers and often for anyone you learn from
man you do not know	先生 / 陳先生	polite for any adult man
woman, in shops and offices	小姐 / 林小姐	ordinary and safe in Taiwan
woman, formal	女士 / 林女士	formal, on letters and invitations
woman of your mother’s age	阿姨	a friend’s mother, a shopkeeper
man of your father’s age	叔叔 / 伯伯
shop owner	老闆	the owner of a business
manager	李經理	surname + title
classmate	同學

老師 (lǎoshī) is defined as a respectful term for someone who teaches knowledge or skills, and in Taiwan it is common to call a teacher of anything, including a language tutor or a professional, 老師. 先生 (xiānshēng) is the dictionary’s “respectful term for a man”, and it also means “husband” when a wife refers to her own. 阿姨 (āyí) is a mother’s sister, and the dictionary also lists the general sense of a woman of about your mother’s age, so a friend’s mother or a woman running a stall can be 阿姨. The caution is age: 阿姨 can make a woman in her thirties or forties feel old, and 小姐 is the safer choice when you are unsure. 叔叔 (shúshu) has the matching general sense, a man of your father’s generation but younger. It is mostly what children and young people say, and adults often use 先生 or a name instead.

小姐 (xiǎojiě) is the ordinary, polite way to address a woman in shops, restaurants and offices in Taiwan, and to call a server. The dictionary’s sense for general use is a term for young women in social settings, usually unmarried women or after a woman’s name. Its unflattering old sense (舊時指娼妓、歌女) affects mainland usage far more than Taiwan’s. The practical question in Taiwan is age: 阿姨 suits a clearly older woman, and 小姐 is the safer choice when unsure. In formal writing use 女士.

老闆 (lǎobǎn) is the dictionary’s word for the owner of a company, and in everyday Taiwan it is how you call to the owner of a shop or stall, whether or not they actually own it. The female owner, or the owner’s wife, is 老闆娘 (lǎobǎnniáng), also a common term of address.

For family terms (奶奶, 爺爺, 叔叔, 阿姨, 姑姑), see Chinese family kinship terms. For workplace titles and how to use them with a boss, see how to address your boss in Chinese.

Surname plus title

The common pattern is surname first, then the title: 王老師, 陳先生, 李經理. Add a greeting, 王老師好, or a request, 王經理，請問…. This is how polite address works at work and at school in Taiwan, and it avoids having to choose between 你 and 您.

With people your own age, first names are normal. Taiwanese friends often use the full given name without the surname, so 王小明 may be called 小明 by friends. English names are also common among colleagues in Taiwan offices.

妳 or 你?

妳 is a written form for a woman, and the dictionary lists it as 用於女性的第二人稱, “second person, used for women”. It sounds exactly like 你, so it only matters when you write.

• In messages, cards and handwriting, many people in Taiwan write 妳 to a woman and 你 to a man or when gender is unknown.
• 你 for a woman is also acceptable and is not an error. In formal writing and on forms, 你 is the usual choice.
• The plural for a group of women is 妳們, and 你們 covers any group.

A learner who writes 你 to everyone is never wrong, and writing 妳 to a woman friend is a small, warm touch.

Quick guide

Who	Say
a friend or classmate	你
a customer	您
a teacher	老師 (王老師)
a friend’s mother	阿姨
your boss	surname + title (李經理)
a group at an event	各位
an email to someone senior	您好

Related reading

• Chinese Family Kinship Terms
• How to Address Your Boss in Chinese
• Formal Chinese Messages in Taiwan
• How to Say Hello in Chinese