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任何人 (rèn hé rén) — anyone

Definition

pronoun
anyone

Examples

  • 任何人。
    rèn hé rén Dōu kě yǐ cān jiā zhè ge huó dòng.
    Anyone can participate in this activity.
  • 任何人。
    Wǒ bú rèn shi rèn hé rén.
    I don't know anyone.
  • 任何人。
    rèn hé rén Dōu bù néng suí yì jìn rù zhè ge fáng jiān.
    No one can enter this room casually.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
壬
壬rén任rèn
Same sound today

任 pairs 亻, a person, with 壬, which may picture a shoulder pole turned sideways.

Open 任 →

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

The old form of 何 drew a person carrying something on their shoulder. If the carried thing was a 戈, the 人 and 戈 parts together showed that picture.

Open 何 →

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 →
Appears in
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