How to use 这个
Person / Thing + 这个 + Label / Category，Comment
After a person or thing, 这个 can introduce a label that makes the speaker’s characterization explicit. With a person, the label may convey affection, irritation, or criticism depending on its content and tone. The construction is emphatic, and some combinations are direct insults. It is useful to recognize the attitude rather than reading 这个 as an ordinary pointer alone.
The same broad arrangement can identify a place or object by category before adding a comment. 这种 and 这类 similarly frame kinds or classes of things. Not every use is name-calling: a neutral category can simply organize the topic. Judge the emotional force from the noun label and the surrounding statement, especially when someone is addressed directly.
Examples with pinyin and English
你这个坏蛋，就没做过一件好事。
You're such a bad person! You haven't done a single good thing.
他这个马屁精，又去拍老板的马屁了。
He's such a brown-noser. He's kissing up to the boss again.
上海这个城市，夏天太热，冬天太冷。
As for Shanghai, its summers are too hot and its winters are too cold.
你这个人，怎么能做出这样的事情？
What kind of person are you? How could you do this?
What to remember
- The noun label carries much of the attitude.
- A neutral category can simply frame a topic.
- 这种 and 这类 identify kinds or classes.
Practise the pattern
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Source and editorial notes
Explanation rewritten for Laowai. Examples are adapted from the Laowai English grammar curriculum, with editorial corrections where needed. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
Difficulty labels describe the level of the explanation; they are not official HSK placement. Send a correction with this page’s URL.