‘他俩’ is a colloquial pronoun meaning ‘the two of them’, specifically referring to two people where at least one is male (e.g., two men, or a man and a woman). It combines the third-person singular pronoun 他 (tā, ‘he’) with 俩 (liǎ), a contraction of 两个 (liǎng gè, ‘two [of]’), which functions as a measure-word-based plural marker. Unlike formal written Chinese—which would use 他们 (tāmen) for mixed or male groups—the form 他俩 is informal, spoken, and emphasizes exactly two individuals.

This expression is common in everyday conversation, especially when recounting shared actions, relationships, or plans: e.g., describing who went somewhere together, who agreed on something, or who shares a habit. It carries no grammatical gender marking beyond the implied presence of a male, and it cannot refer to two females (for which 她俩 tā liǎ is used instead). While 他俩 sounds identical to 他俩 when spoken, the character 俩 always signals ‘two’—never ‘all’ or ‘many’—making it precise and contextually grounded.