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小伙子 (xiǎo huǒ zi) — young man; lad

Definition

Casual, friendly way to say 'young guy / lad' — typically for a man in his late teens to twenties. Colloquial and warm; 男孩儿 is a younger boy, while 男子 is a neutral, more formal 'man'.

noun
young manlad
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 小伙子。
    Nà ge xiǎo huǒ zi hěn rè qíng.
    That young man is very enthusiastic.
  • 小伙子，。
    Zhè xiǎo huǒ zi zhēn néng gàn, shén me dōu huì zuò.
    This lad is really capable; he can do everything.
  • 小伙子。
    Yí gè xiǎo huǒ zi zài gōng yuán lǐ pǎo bù.
    A young guy is running in the park.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

小伙young fellow
小xiǎoyoung伙huǒfellow
偏正Modifier + head
子zǐcolloquial ending

小 “young” and 伙 “fellow” give young fellow, with 子 adding a colloquial tone.

Characters in this word

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

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 夥; 伙 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 伙 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (大伙儿, 伙) it is 夥; in others (小伙子) it is 伙.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
多多duō
Sound part声符shēngfú
果
果guǒ夥huǒ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 夥 combines 多 (many) with 果 as a sound part. The simplified 伙 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 伙 →

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →
Appears in
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