<p>In addition to those involving 某, as explained in other answers, there are some general names used quite often (e.g. in story-telling) like 张三 and 李四.</p>

<p>The complete list goes as: 刘一、陈二、张三、李四、王五、赵六、孙七、周八、吴九、郑十</p>

<p>Source: <a href="https://www.zhihu.com/question/63926768" rel="noreferrer">https://www.zhihu.com/question/63926768</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-25T04:00:53.710Z
Btw, I think this is the equivalent of _John Doe_ (and _Jane Doe_) used in English.
zypA13510
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-08T06:56:38.413Z
2018-11-08T06:56:38.413Z
zypA13510
<p>To refer to someone non-specific, you can say「某某/某人/某某人」.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我廠「某人」偷了東西，我不點他的名字，他應坦白交代。</p>
  
  <p><strong><em>Someone</strong> in my factory was stealing things. I won't mention him by name, but he should come forth honestly and explain himself.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>To refer to <em>Person A</em> or <em>Party A</em>, for example in an agreement or contract, you can say 「甲方」(as opposed to <em>Person/Party B</em>「乙方」or <em>both parties</em>「雙方」).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-07T23:09:11.477Z
2018-11-07T23:09:11.477Z
dROOOze
<p>Let me introduce two things:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>天干 (Celestial Stems):</p>
  
  <p>甲 乙 丙 丁 戊 己 庚 辛 壬 癸</p>
</blockquote>

<p>and</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>地支 (Terrestrial Branches):</p>
  
  <p>子 丑 寅 卯 辰 巳 午 未 申 酉 戌 亥</p>
</blockquote>

<p>These two things are often used for these purposes.</p>

<hr>

<p><strong>Example 1</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>某甲 person A</p>
  
  <p>某乙 person B</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Example 2</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>甲型肝炎 (甲肝) hepatitis A</p>
  
  <p>乙型肝炎 (乙肝) hepatitis B</p>
  
  <p>丙型肝炎 hepatitis C</p>
  
  <p>丁型肝炎 hepatitis D</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Example 3</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>甲型超声波 ultrasound A</p>
  
  <p>乙型超声波 (B超)  ultrasound B</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Example 4</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>甲烷 methane</p>
  
  <p>乙烷 ethane</p>
  
  <p>丙烷 propane</p>
  
  <p>丁烷 butane</p>
  
  <p>戊烷 pentane</p>
  
  <p>己烷 hexane</p>
  
  <p>庚烷 heptane</p>
  
  <p>辛烷 octane</p>
  
  <p>壬烷 nonane</p>
  
  <p>癸烷 decane</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-19T16:31:54.207Z
2019-03-19T16:31:54.207Z
Victor
<p>有个人。 means someone/somebody whom you don't know.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-08T02:51:00.670Z
2018-11-08T02:51:00.670Z
JessicaStewart1616
<p>Yes, it does. The most famous unknown person A is "张三" in Chinese.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-18T05:07:56.563Z
2019-03-18T05:07:56.563Z
Wei Huang
<p>You would say</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>甲、乙、丙、丁……</p>
</blockquote>

<p>which come from <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A9%E5%B9%B2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">天干</a>, you could also say</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>路人甲、路人乙、路人丙……</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If you know the person's surname, you could also say</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>李某、王某……</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In case if you want the specify that person's occupation</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>某市民、某员工、某政府工作人员……</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-19T09:01:24.957Z
what about 小明，小刚，小红，李华
Voyager
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-19T13:21:56.577Z
@rambler Those would almost be real name and nicknames, which can be commonly used in simple short made up stories.
zyy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-07T23:32:21.323Z
2019-03-14T23:52:01.093Z
2019-03-14T23:52:01.093Z
zyy
<p>In English, sometimes we'll refer to a person whose name is unknown or undisclosed as "Person A" particularly in hypothetical scenarios. Does a similar thing exist in Chinese that doesn't make use of English letters?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-08T03:40:27.363Z
Some other alternatives: 某甲，某乙，etc.
xbh
<vocabulary><terminology>
Does Chinese have an equivalent to “Person A”?
# Does Chinese have an equivalent to “Person A”?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-07)

In English, sometimes we'll refer to a person whose name is unknown or undisclosed as "Person A" particularly in hypothetical scenarios. Does a similar thing exist in Chinese that doesn't make use of English letters?

**Tags:** vocabulary, terminology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Some other alternatives: 某甲，某乙，etc.  

---

## 6 answers

### Answer by username_7 on 2018-11-07. Score: 15 | Accepted answer

You would say

> 甲、乙、丙、丁……

which come from [天干](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A9%E5%B9%B2), you could also say

> 路人甲、路人乙、路人丙……

If you know the person's surname, you could also say

> 李某、王某……

In case if you want the specify that person's occupation

> 某市民、某员工、某政府工作人员……

> **Comments:**
> **username_8**: what about 小明，小刚，小红，李华  
> **username_7**: @rambler Those would almost be real name and nicknames, which can be commonly used in simple short made up stories.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-11-08. Score: 6

In addition to those involving 某, as explained in other answers, there are some general names used quite often (e.g. in story-telling) like 张三 and 李四.

The complete list goes as: 刘一、陈二、张三、李四、王五、赵六、孙七、周八、吴九、郑十

Source: <https://www.zhihu.com/question/63926768>

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Btw, I think this is the equivalent of _John Doe_ (and _Jane Doe_) used in English.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-11-07. Score: 6

To refer to someone non-specific, you can say「某某/某人/某某人」.

> 我廠「某人」偷了東西，我不點他的名字，他應坦白交代。
>
> ***Someone*** in my factory was stealing things. I won't mention him by name, but he should come forth honestly and explain himself.

To refer to *Person A* or *Party A*, for example in an agreement or contract, you can say 「甲方」(as opposed to *Person/Party B*「乙方」or *both parties*「雙方」).


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-03-19. Score: 2

Let me introduce two things:

> 天干 (Celestial Stems):
>
> 甲 乙 丙 丁 戊 己 庚 辛 壬 癸

and

> 地支 (Terrestrial Branches):
>
> 子 丑 寅 卯 辰 巳 午 未 申 酉 戌 亥

These two things are often used for these purposes.

---

**Example 1**

> 某甲 person A
>
> 某乙 person B

**Example 2**

> 甲型肝炎 (甲肝) hepatitis A
>
> 乙型肝炎 (乙肝) hepatitis B
>
> 丙型肝炎 hepatitis C
>
> 丁型肝炎 hepatitis D

**Example 3**

> 甲型超声波 ultrasound A
>
> 乙型超声波 (B超) ultrasound B

**Example 4**

> 甲烷 methane
>
> 乙烷 ethane
>
> 丙烷 propane
>
> 丁烷 butane
>
> 戊烷 pentane
>
> 己烷 hexane
>
> 庚烷 heptane
>
> 辛烷 octane
>
> 壬烷 nonane
>
> 癸烷 decane


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2018-11-08. Score: 2

有个人。 means someone/somebody whom you don't know.


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2019-03-18. Score: -1

Yes, it does. The most famous unknown person A is "张三" in Chinese.


---

