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熟人 (shú rén) — acquaintance; someone you know well

Definition

熟人 is an 'acquaintance' — someone you know but aren't close friends with. It's weaker than 朋友, which implies a real friendship; 相识 as a noun is nearly the same idea in more formal writing.

noun
acquaintancesomeone you know well
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 熟人。
    Tā shì wǒ zài dà xué rèn shi de shú rén.
    He is an acquaintance I met in college.
  • 熟人。
    Zhè jiàn shì wǒ zhǎo le yí gè shú rén bāng máng.
    I found an acquaintance to help with this matter.
  • ，熟人。
    Zài mò shēng de chéng shì lǐ, shú rén hěn zhòng yào.
    In an unfamiliar city, acquaintances are very important.

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.

熟shúfamiliar
人rénperson

熟 describes a person as known or familiar, so 熟人 means an acquaintance.

Characters in this word

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

熟 combines 孰 (cooked; ripe) with 灬 (fire), showing food cooked with fire.

Open 熟 →

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
HSK 3.0 Level 5Friends & Social

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