<p>Structure of the sentence:</p>
<ul>
<li>以色列军队(main subject of the passage) + 称(verb)+ <strong>其(a repeat of the subject of the passage as the subject of the sub-clause)</strong> + “几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层(rest of the sub-clause)</li>
</ul>
<p>&quot;其&quot; replaces the thing/person/country named in the main subject with the corresponding third-person or third-person possessive pronoun (it/its; they/their; he/his; she/her) to avoid repetition.</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>以色列军队</strong>称其(refers to <strong>以色列军队</strong>)“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层 - Israel Army claims that <strong>it(Israel Army)</strong> has almost broken up Hezbola's leadership layer.</p>
</li>
<li><p><strong>以色列</strong>军队称其(refers to <strong>以色列的</strong>)军队“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层 - Israel Army claims that <strong>it's(Israel's)</strong> Army has almost broken up Hezbola's leadership layer.</p>
</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-28T08:18:16.253Z
以色列军队 is IDF, if you have read the news in English.
NanningYouth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-22T20:28:37.047Z
2024-09-22T21:29:24.717Z
2024-09-22T21:29:24.717Z
r13
<p>I think there is a : missing in your quoted text, but, otherwise it is OK.</p>
<p>其：it</p>
<p>以色列军队称：其“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层。<br />
Israel’s Armed Forces stated:  It “has almost completely obliterated” Hezbollah’s highest-ranking leaders.</p>
<p>(And most of Gaza! Politics in the 21st century is still stone-aged.)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-22T05:42:02.680Z
2024-09-22T05:42:02.680Z
Pedroski
<p>其 is a determiner pronoun, e.g. its, his, her, their</p>
<p>example:</p>
<ul>
<li>美国以[<strong>其</strong>]军事及经济力量控制全世界 - The US uses [<strong>its/ their</strong>] Military and economic power to control the world</li>
</ul>
<p>以色列军队称其“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层 is a wrong sentence, the correct wording should be:</p>
<ul>
<li>以色列称[<strong>其</strong>]军队“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层 - Israel says [<strong>its/ their</strong>] forces &quot;almost completely dismantled&quot; Hezbollah leadership</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-22T10:52:14.433Z
The sentence is correct. This is one of the ambiguity in Chinese. 其 can mean its/their, but can also mean it/they, depending on the context. So it can be translated as "Israel forces say they almost..."
Kirk
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-22T11:15:37.207Z
If 其 refers to 以色列军队, it should be replaced with 他们 to make the entire sentence modern. The sentence sounded unnature in modern Chinese with it\
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-22T11:59:23.547Z
@TangHo 其 is used as a personal pronoun in many Wu dialects, and this usage does spill over into Mandarin, even if it’s not quite standard. Coupled with the fact that it’s also used like this in Classical Chinese, using 其 to mean ‘it’ (the army) would not be all that unexpected here if the writer is from somewhere like Hangzhou. (There’s also no such thing as a ‘determiner pronoun’; it’s either a determinative or a pronoun.)
Janus Bahs Jacquet
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-21T22:13:35.200Z
2024-09-22T02:44:36.527Z
2024-09-22T02:44:36.527Z
Tang Ho
<p>Chinese Al Jazeera:</p>
<p>5小时前 (21:15 GMT+8) 20240921</p>
<p>以色列军队称其“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层</p>
<p>以色列军队发表声明称，其已大大削弱真主党的领导层，此前一天，贝鲁特南部郊区的袭击导致最高指挥官易卜拉欣·阿基勒身亡。</p>
<p>What is the meaning of 其 in 以色列军队称其“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层?</p>
<p>Literal translation:</p>
<p>以色列(Israel)军队(army)称(said)其(?)“几乎(almost)完全(completely)瓦解(disintegrated)”了真主党(Hezbollah)领导层(leadership)</p>
<p>Chatgpt says that it means &quot;its&quot; and it refers to Hezbollah, but I cannot understand its grammatical structure. Can you help me? For example, why is it needed?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-21T22:31:43.497Z
Chatgpt  is not smart enough to replace human editors yet
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-22T23:55:03.387Z
完全 should be equal to `totally`  or `overall` , not `completely`.
James
<meaning><meaning-in-context>
What is the meaning of 其 in 以色列军队称其“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层?
# What is the meaning of 其 in 以色列军队称其“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-09-21)

Chinese Al Jazeera:

5小时前 (21:15 GMT+8) 20240921

以色列军队称其“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层

以色列军队发表声明称，其已大大削弱真主党的领导层，此前一天，贝鲁特南部郊区的袭击导致最高指挥官易卜拉欣·阿基勒身亡。

What is the meaning of 其 in 以色列军队称其“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层?

Literal translation:

以色列(Israel)军队(army)称(said)其(?)“几乎(almost)完全(completely)瓦解(disintegrated)”了真主党(Hezbollah)领导层(leadership)

Chatgpt says that it means "its" and it refers to Hezbollah, but I cannot understand its grammatical structure. Can you help me? For example, why is it needed?

**Tags:** meaning, meaning-in-context

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Chatgpt  is not smart enough to replace human editors yet  
> **username_2**: 完全 should be equal to `totally`  or `overall` , not `completely`.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-09-21. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

其 is a determiner pronoun, e.g. its, his, her, their

example:

* 美国以[**其**]军事及经济力量控制全世界 - The US uses [**its/ their**] Military and economic power to control the world

以色列军队称其“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层 is a wrong sentence, the correct wording should be:

* 以色列称[**其**]军队“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层 - Israel says [**its/ their**] forces "almost completely dismantled" Hezbollah leadership

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: The sentence is correct. This is one of the ambiguity in Chinese. 其 can mean its/their, but can also mean it/they, depending on the context. So it can be translated as "Israel forces say they almost..."  
> **username_1**: If 其 refers to 以色列军队, it should be replaced with 他们 to make the entire sentence modern. The sentence sounded unnature in modern Chinese with it\  
> **username_7**: @username_1 其 is used as a personal pronoun in many Wu dialects, and this usage does spill over into Mandarin, even if it’s not quite standard. Coupled with the fact that it’s also used like this in Classical Chinese, using 其 to mean ‘it’ (the army) would not be all that unexpected here if the writer is from somewhere like Hangzhou. (There’s also no such thing as a ‘determiner pronoun’; it’s either a determinative or a pronoun.)  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2024-09-22. Score: 2

Structure of the sentence:

* 以色列军队(main subject of the passage) + 称(verb)+ **其(a repeat of the subject of the passage as the subject of the sub-clause)** + “几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层(rest of the sub-clause)

"其" replaces the thing/person/country named in the main subject with the corresponding third-person or third-person possessive pronoun (it/its; they/their; he/his; she/her) to avoid repetition.

* **以色列军队**称其(refers to **以色列军队**)“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层 - Israel Army claims that **it(Israel Army)** has almost broken up Hezbola's leadership layer.
* **以色列**军队称其(refers to **以色列的**)军队“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层 - Israel Army claims that **it's(Israel's)** Army has almost broken up Hezbola's leadership layer.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: 以色列军队 is IDF, if you have read the news in English.  

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### Answer by username_5 on 2024-09-22. Score: 0

I think there is a : missing in your quoted text, but, otherwise it is OK.

其：it

以色列军队称：其“几乎完全瓦解”了真主党领导层。  
Israel’s Armed Forces stated: It “has almost completely obliterated” Hezbollah’s highest-ranking leaders.

(And most of Gaza! Politics in the 21st century is still stone-aged.)


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