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男孩儿 (nán hái r) — boy

Definition

男孩儿 is the colloquial erhua form of 男孩, used in everyday speech for 'boy'. For a child more generally, 小孩儿 is more common; 男生 emphasizes a school-age male or student.

noun
boy
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 男孩儿。
    Nà ge nán hái r shì wǒ de péng you.
    That boy is my friend.
  • 男孩儿。
    Tā jiā yǒu yí gè xiǎo nán hái r.
    Her family has a little boy.
  • 男孩儿？
    nán hái r Zài gōng yuán lǐ wán ma?
    Is the boy playing in the park?

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

男孩boy
男nánmale孩háichild
偏正Modifier + head
儿érerhua

男 means male and 孩 means child; the final 儿 gives the common spoken form of boy.

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 →

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
子子zǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
亥
亥hài孩hái
Same sound today

In 孩, the left part 子 shows a child, while the right part 亥 supplies the sound.

Open 孩 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Open 儿 →
Appears in
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