人家: other people, him / her, me (colloquial)
【四02】人称代词 / pronouns
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
人家 (rénjia) is a spoken pronoun with three uses: “other people”, set against “you” or “us”; a third person both speakers already know (“he”, “she”, “they”); and, in a coaxing or pouting tone, “me”.
It nearly always carries a comparison or a feeling (reproach, defence, whining). That is what sets it apart from 别人, which is neutral and simply says “other people”, and from 他 / 她, which point without any colour. It can come before a name or a noun (人家小李, 人家饭店) and has no plural: 人家 stands for one person or several.
Register: spoken. In the sense of “me”, 人家 is the tone of 撒娇 (pouting, cajoling): avoid it with a boss or in any formal setting.
Examples
人家都按时交作业了，你呢？
Rénjia dōu ànshí jiāo zuòyè le, nǐ ne?Everyone else handed in their homework on time. What about you?
你看人家小李，每天都按时上班。
Nǐ kàn rénjia Xiǎo Lǐ, měi tiān dōu ànshí shàngbān.Look at Xiao Li: he gets to work on time every day.
别学人家，你有你自己的办法。
Bié xué rénjia, nǐ yǒu nǐ zìjǐ de bànfǎ.Don't copy other people. You have your own way of doing things.
你别生老王的气，人家也是为你好。
Nǐ bié shēng Lǎo Wáng de qì, rénjia yě shì wèi nǐ hǎo.Don't be angry with Lao Wang: he means well.
人家饭店还没开门呢，我们再等等吧。
Rénjia fàndiàn hái méi kāimén ne, wǒmen zài děngdeng ba.The restaurant isn't open yet, you know. Let's wait a little.
人家不想去嘛，你就别再问了。
Rénjia bù xiǎng qù ma, nǐ jiù bié zài wèn le.But I don't want to go! Stop asking me.
Common mistakes
✗ 人家在法国喜欢喝咖啡 → ✓ 法国人喜欢喝咖啡 (人家 points to known people or a contrast, not to “people in general”).
✗ 经理，人家今天想早点走 → ✓ 经理，我今天想早点走 (人家 for “me” is coy, not for a boss).
✗ 人家们都来了 → ✓ 人家都来了 (人家 has no plural).