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女朋友 (nǚ péng you) — girlfriend

Definition

A romantic partner who is female. Distinct from 朋友 (just a friend); the male counterpart is 男朋友. 对象 (HSK 5) is a more formal, general word for romantic partner.

noun
girlfriend
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 女朋友。
    Tā yǒu yí gè nǚ péng you.
    He has a girlfriend.
  • 女朋友。
    Wǒ nǚ péng you shì hǎo rén.
    My girlfriend is a good person.
  • 女朋友？
    Zhè shì nǐ nǚ péng you ma?
    Is this your girlfriend?

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.

女nǚfemale
朋友friend
朋péngfriend友yǒufriend
联合Coordinate

女 gives female and 朋友 gives friend, giving a female friend.

Characters in this word

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

女 shows a woman with folded arms, kneeling or standing. In the modern form the figure faces right, and the small enclosed part is what is left of one arm.

Open 女 →

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

The old form of 朋 showed two strings of cowries side by side; the modern double shape came from this picture.

Open 朋 →

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

友 is drawn as two 又, the hand form, side by side. The old explanation says two hands together mean friendship.

Open 友 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 1Romance & Marriage2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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