成年 (chéng nián) — to become an adult; to grow to adulthood; adult (adj.); fully grown

Definition

Used mainly in formal or legal contexts (e.g., 成年人 'adult') to mark the legal/adult status. For everyday 'grown-up', use 大人; 成人 is similar in meaning but more common in compound nouns like 成人高考.

adverb
to become an adultto grow to adulthoodadult (adj.)fully grown

Examples

  • 成年。
    Tā chéng nián hòu jiù kāi shǐ dú lì shēng huó le.
    After he became an adult, he started living independently.
  • 。
    chéng nián Rén xū yào duì zì jǐ de xíng wéi fù zé.
    Adults need to be responsible for their own actions.
  • 成年，。
    Tā hái méi chéng nián, bù néng qiān hé tong.
    She hasn't become an adult yet, so she can't sign a contract.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

成chéngbecome
年niánage

成年 combines 成, to become, with 年, age, meaning to reach adulthood or be fully grown.

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
戊戊wù
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng成chéng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

Open 成 →

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
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Life Stages & Age

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.