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男人 (nán rén) — man, male

Definition

Everyday word for an adult man, focused on gender/people rather than biology. For animals use 雄性; 男士 is the polite form; 男 alone is the adjective 'male'.

noun
manmale
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 男人。
    Nà ge nán rén zài kàn shū.
    That man is reading a book.
  • 男人。
    Wǒ gē ge shì yí gè nán rén.
    My older brother is a man.
  • 男人？
    nán rén Dōu xǐ huan yùn dòng ma?
    Do men all like sports?

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.

男nánmale
人rénperson

男 contributes male and 人 contributes person, giving a male person.

Characters in this word

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

男 is made from 田, a field, and 力, strength. It shows a man working with strength in a field.

Open 男 →

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 3500 Most Frequent Chinese WordsHSK 2.0 Level 21000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsPeople (General)2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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