Learn Hardcore Chinese: tā jiā yǒu yì zhī māo, chángcháng gēn tā wán. - He has a cat at home that often plays with him.

他有一只猫 = He owns a cat / He has a cat.
Focus is on his possession.
他家有一只猫 = There is a cat in his household / at his place.
Focus is on his home / family as a place where a cat exists.

For pets and household things, Chinese people very often use the pattern:

place + 有 + thing
e.g. 他们家有两只狗。 – Their family has two dogs. / They have two dogs at home.

So 他家有一只猫 sounds very natural when talking about a cat living in his home.

What exactly does 家 (jiā) mean here? Is it “home”, “house”, or “family”?

家 can mean all of these, depending on context. In 他家:

Literally: “his home / his household / his family”
Functionally: it marks the place or household unit.

So:

他家 = his home / his place / his household
我们家 = our home / our family (as a unit)
你家 = your home / your place

In 他家有一只猫, you can understand 他家 as “at his home / in his household”.

What is the function of 有 (yǒu) here? Does it mean “have” or “there is/are”?

有 does both jobs in Chinese:

Possession (“have”)
- 我有三本书。 – I have three books.
Existence (“there is/are”)
Using the pattern location + 有 + noun:
- 桌子上有一本书。 – There is a book on the table.
- 他家有一只猫。 – At his home there is a cat.

In your sentence, you can interpret 有 both as “has” and “there is”:

Natural English: He has a cat at home.
Literal structure: At his home, there is a cat.

Why do we need 一只 (yì zhī) before 猫? Can’t we just say 他家有猫?

Chinese normally requires a measure word (classifier) between a number and a noun:

number + measure word + noun

For animals like 猫 (cat), the common measure word is 只 (zhī):

一只猫 – one cat
两只猫 – two cats

You can say 他家有猫, but the meaning changes:

他家有一只猫 = His household has one (specific) cat.
他家有猫 = His household has *cats (at least one, maybe more),* or just “they have (a) cat(s)” without caring about number.

So 一只 is there to:

Satisfy the measure word rule, and
Emphasize “one cat”.

What does the measure word 只 (zhī) mean, and when do we use this one?

只 (zhī) is a measure word, not something you translate literally in most cases.

Common uses:

Animals / small creatures
- 一只猫 – one cat
- 一只狗 – one dog
- 一只鸟 – one bird
Some body parts that come in pairs (when counting each one)
- 一只手 – one hand
- 一只眼睛 – one eye
Certain objects that are conventionally counted with 只:
- 一只鞋 – one shoe
- 一只耳环 – one earring

You generally just memorize which nouns take which measure words. For 猫, 一只猫 is the standard phrase.

I know 只 can also be pronounced zhǐ and mean “only / just”. Are these the same word?

They are the same character, but function as different words:

只 (zhī) – measure word (as in 一只猫, one cat).
只 (zhǐ) – adverb meaning “only / just”:
- 我只有一只猫。 – I only have one cat.

So:

Pronunciation zhī → classifier.
Pronunciation zhǐ → “only / just”.

Context and pronunciation tell you which one it is.

In 常常跟他玩, who is the subject? Why is there no word for “it” (the cat)?

The subject is still the cat, even though it’s not repeated.

Chinese often drops the subject when it’s obvious from context, similar to how English might drop repeated information in conversation:

Full, explicit version:
那只猫常常跟他玩。 – That cat often plays with him.
In your sentence, the topic “the cat at his home” was just mentioned, so the second clause simply says:
常常跟他玩。 – (It) often plays with him.

This is called a topic–comment structure:

Topic: 他家有一只猫 – As for his home, there is a cat.
Comment: 常常跟他玩 – (It) often plays with him.

Chinese doesn’t need to repeat “it” when it’s clear from the context.

Could we say 那只猫常常跟他玩 or 他家的猫常常跟他玩 instead? Is that more natural?

Yes, both are perfectly natural and very clear:

那只猫常常跟他玩。 – That cat often plays with him.
他家的猫常常跟他玩。 – The cat at his home often plays with him.

Your original sentence:

他家有一只猫，常常跟他玩。

packs the same information into two related parts:

他家有一只猫 – There is a cat at his home.
常常跟他玩 – (It) often plays with him.

All versions are fine; the original is just a little more narrative in style (first introduce the existence, then describe what it does).

What is the difference between 跟 (gēn) and 和 (hé) when they mean “with”?

Both can correspond to “with” in English, but they have different typical uses:

跟 (gēn)
- Very common in spoken Chinese.
- Often used as “with” before a verb:
  - 跟他玩 – play with him
  - 跟她聊天 – chat with her
  - 跟老师学中文 – learn Chinese with the teacher
和 (hé)
- Common both in speech and writing.
- Often used as “and”:
  - 我和他 – he and I
  - 苹果和香蕉 – apples and bananas
- Can also mean “with”, especially in writing:
  - 和他一起玩 – play together with him

In your sentence, 常常跟他玩 is very natural spoken Chinese; 常常和他玩 would also be understood and is acceptable.

Does 跟他玩 mean “play with him” or “play with it”? 他 can be “he” or “him”, so I’m confused.

In Chinese, pronouns do not change form for subject vs object:

他 = he / him
她 = she / her
它 = it (non-human / objects, but often replaced by 他 in casual writing)

Meaning comes from position and context:

(猫) 常常跟他玩。
(The cat) often plays with him.

Here:

The (omitted) subject is the cat from the first clause.
他 after 跟 is the object: with him.

So 跟他玩 is “play with him”, not “play with it”. If you really needed to say “play with it” (referring to some thing), you’d likely use 跟它玩, though in practice people often just omit it or rely on context.

Why is there a comma ， instead of a word meaning “and” between the two parts?

Chinese often links clauses directly with punctuation, without a word like “and”:

他家有一只猫，常常跟他玩。
Literally: At his home there is a cat, (it) often plays with him.

The comma shows that the second clause is describing the first (what that cat does). You could add linking words, but they’re not necessary:

他家有一只猫，而且常常跟他玩。 – He has a cat at home, and it often plays with him.
他家有一只猫，还常常跟他玩。 – He has a cat at home, and it even often plays with him.

Leaving just the comma is very natural and common.

Is there a difference between 常常 (chángcháng) and 经常 (jīngcháng) for “often”?

They are very similar and often interchangeable:

常常 – “often”, maybe a bit more casual / spoken feeling.
经常 – also “often”, slightly more common overall, can sound a touch more neutral or standard.

Examples:

我常常跟他玩。 – I often play with him.
我经常跟他玩。 – I often play with him.

In your sentence, you could say:

常常跟他玩 or
经常跟他玩

Both are fine; no big meaning difference here.

I’ve seen 玩儿 (wánr) as well as 玩 (wán). Which should I use here?

玩儿 (wánr) is just 玩 (wán) with 儿化 (adding an “-r” sound) – common in northern / Beijing speech.

Meaning is the same: “to play; to have fun”.

Without 儿: 玩 – standard form, used everywhere.
With 儿: 玩儿 – same verb, but with a northern accent flavor.

So you can say:

常常跟他玩。 (neutral standard)
常常跟他玩儿。 (sounds more Beijing / northern)

Both are correct; choose based on the accent or style you want to imitate.

How would this sentence change if the person was female? Since 他 (he) and 她 (she) are both pronounced tā.

In speech, there is no change at all: both 他 and 她 are tā.

In writing, you change the characters referring to the person:

Original:
他家有一只猫，常常跟他玩。
He has a cat at home; it often plays with him.
Female version:
她家有一只猫，常常跟她玩。
She has a cat at home; it often plays with her.

Notes:

First 他 → 她 (she).
Second 他 → 她 (her, as the person being played with).

The cat itself is still just 猫; you only mark the person’s gender in writing.