Definition
成年 (chéng nián) is a verb that means 'to become an adult' or 'to reach adulthood', focusing on the process of reaching the legal adult age. It differs from 大人 (dà ren, noun) which simply means 'an adult (person)', and from 成人 (chéng rén, verb/noun) which can mean both the process (similar to 成年) and the person—成人 is slightly more formal and can also serve as a noun meaning 'adult'.
verb
to grow to adulthoodto become an adultfully grownadult (attributive)
Examples
- 成年。Tā chéng nián yǐhòu jiù chūqù gōngzuò le.After he became an adult, he went out to work.
- 成年？。Nǐ chéng nián le ma? Xiànzài kěyǐ zìjǐ zuò juédìng le.Have you become an adult? Now you can make your own decisions.
- 成年。chéng nián zhīqián yào xuéhuì zhàogù zìjǐ.Before reaching adulthood, you need to learn to take care of yourself.
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