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男子 (nán zǐ) — a man, a male

Definition

男子 (nánzǐ) is a written, neutral word for 'man' or 'male' — more formal than 男人 but less polite than 男士, and used for adults rather than students (男生) or lads (小伙子).

noun
a mana male
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 男子。
    Lù shang yǒu yí gè nán zǐ zài pǎo bù.
    There is a man running on the road.
  • 男子。
    Zhè wèi nán zǐ shì wǒ de tóng shì.
    This man is my colleague.
  • 男子。
    Zhè cì bǐ sài zhǐ yǒu jǐ wèi nán zǐ cān jiā.
    Only a few men participated in this competition.

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
子zǐperson

男 contributes male and 子 contributes person, giving a man.

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.

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5People (General)5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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