Compared to English and other European languages, the Penang Hokkien Pronouns are quite regular. Apart from the possessive pronoun (which you form by suffixing -eh3, pronouns in Hokkien aren't affected much by inflection, meaning don't change their form (unlike English, where "I" becomes "me", "my", "mine", etc.)

There are two third person pronouns which are homophones of each other: ie1 [i] is used for males, male animals and items of unspecified gender; ee1 [i] is sed for females, female animals and any item we refer or identy with the female gender. In the plural, ie1lang2 [i-laŋ] is used when the gender is all male or unspecified, whereas ee1lang2 [i-laŋ] is used when the gender is known to be specifically female.

There are just two types of pronouns to remember, the Personal Pronoun and the Possessive Pronoun. Let's learn them now.

Personal Pronouns

English / Hokkien

Singular

I
wah4 [ua] gua4 [gua]

(Singular) You
lu4 [lu]
He
ie1 [i]

She
ee1 [i]

It
i1 [i]

Plural

We
wah1lang2 [wa-laŋ] ,
gua1lang2 [gua-laŋ] ,
lan4 [lan / laŋ ]
and lan1lang2 [lan-laŋ / laŋ-laŋ ]

(Plural) You
lu1lang2 [lu-laŋ]

They (m)
ie1lang2 [i-laŋ]

They (f)
ee1lang2 [i-laŋ]

They (n)
i1lang2 [i-laŋ]

The system uses three homophones to represent the third person singular. He is "ie1", for people and male animals; she is "ee1", for people and female animals; it is "i1" for animals of undetermined gender and objects. These are turned into the plural by suffixing lang2.

The pronoun ie1 is used by default for people when the gender is not determined. The plural pronoun ie1lang2 is used for all males or mixed, or for people where the gender is not determined.

Things to note

Tone Sandhi affecting the Pronouns Wah4, Gua4 and Lu4

Subject Pronouns, Normal Tone
When used as the subject of the sentence, the pronouns wah4, gua4 and lu4 sandhi to wah1, gua1 and lu1. Wah1 ciak1.
I eat.

Lu1 ciak3 bak3.
You eat meat.

Gua1 mai1 jip1 lai2.
I don't want to come in. Subject Pronouns, Emphatic Tone
When you apply the emphatic tone to the subject of the sentence, the pronouns wah4, gua4 and lu4 do not sandhi. Wah4 ciak1, lu4 mm33thang3 ciak1.
I eat, you don't eat.

Wah4 khee3, lu4 tan1 cit1-peng2.
I go, you wait here. Object Pronouns, Normal Tone
When used as object, wah4, gua4 and lu4 remain in the citation tone. Wah1 kio3 lu4.
I call you.

Lu1 kio3 wah4.
You call me. The other pronouns (ee1, lan4, wah1lang2, lu1lang2, ee1lang2 and lan1lang2) are Regular Words. They are always articulated in the citation tone regardless whether they are used as subject or object, and there is no emphatic tone for them.

Object Pronouns

When the pronoun appears as an object of a verb, the verb remains in the citation tone.

Ie1 that1 bort1.
He kicks (the) ball.

Ie1 that3 wah4.
He kicks me.

In the example above, the verb that3 appears in the sandhi form, as that1, when the object is a noun. However, if the object is a pronoun, then the verb retains its citation form, that3.

Ie1 boek1 that1 bort1 ta3pi1 that3 tiok3 wah4.
He wanted to kick the ball but accidentally kicked me.

In the above example, the verb that3 appears twice in the sentence, the first time as that1 because it is followed by a noun, and the second time as that3 because it is followed by a pronoun.

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