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大人 (dà ren) — adult, grown-up

Definition

Colloquial, everyday word for 'adult', used when contrasting with children (大人 vs 小孩). 成人 and 成年 are more formal and written, often used as attributes like 成年人.

noun
adultgrown-up
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 大人。
    dà ren Hé hái zi dōu kě yǐ cān jiā zhè ge huó dòng.
    Adults and children can all participate in this activity.
  • 大人，。
    Tā yǐ jīng shì dà ren le, yīng gāi zì jǐ zuò jué dìng.
    He is already an adult and should make his own decisions.
  • 大人，。
    dà ren Shuō huà de shí hou, xiǎo hái bú yào chǎo.
    When adults are talking, children shouldn't make noise.

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.

大dàbig
人rénperson

大 as big/grown modifies 人 as person, giving adult or a respectful title.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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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