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有人 (yǒu rén) — someone, anyone

Definition

pronoun
someoneanyone

Examples

  • 有人。
    yǒu rén Zài mén kǒu děng nǐ.
    Someone is waiting for you at the door.
  • 有人，。
    Rú guǒ yǒu rén wèn qǐ, jiù shuō wǒ bú zài.
    If anyone asks, say I'm not here.
  • 有人。
    yǒu rén Jué de zhè ge zhǔ yì bú cuò.
    Some people think this idea is good.

Origin

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

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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