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人事 (rén shì) — personnel; human resources; human affairs; ways of the world; (euphemism) sexuality; facts of life

Definition

人事 covers two distinct senses: in workplaces, the personnel/HR department (人事部); in life, 'human affairs' or, euphemistically, sexuality/the facts of life. Don't confuse with 人员, which just means 'personnel/staff' as a group of people.

noun
personnelhuman resourceshuman affairsways of the world(euphemism) sexualityfacts of life
Easily confused

Examples

  • 。
    Tā zài rén shì bù yǐ jīng gōng zuò shí nián le.
    He has worked in the personnel department for ten years.
  • 人事，。
    Nián qīng rén yīng gāi duō liǎo jiě rén shì, xué huì zuò rén.
    Young people should learn more about human affairs and how to conduct themselves.
  • 人事，。
    Nà běn shū jiǎng de shì rén shì, bú shì hé xiǎo hái zi kàn.
    That book is about the facts of life and is not suitable for small children.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

人rénperson
事shìaffair

'人' points to people and '事' to affairs, so it denotes human affairs or personnel matters.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Workplace & Office

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