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老伴儿 (lǎo bàn r) — (colloquial) one's elderly spouse; one's husband or wife in old age

Definition

Informal word for one's spouse in old age (husband or wife). More casual than 配偶 and limited to elderly couples, unlike 老婆 (wife) or 夫妇 (any married couple).

noun
(colloquial) one's elderly spouseone's husband or wife in old age
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 老伴儿。
    Wǒ lǎo bàn r měi tiān hé wǒ yì qǐ kàn diàn shì jù.
    My spouse watches TV dramas with me every day.
  • 老伴儿，。
    Tā lǎo bàn r qù shì hòu, tā yí gè rén zhù le liǎng nián.
    After her spouse passed away, she lived alone for two years.
  • 老伴儿。
    Shè qū lǐ yǒu hěn duō dān shēn lǎo rén xiǎng zhǎo lǎo bàn r.
    In the community, many elderly singles are looking for a spouse.

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.

老伴old companion
老lǎoold伴bàncompanion
偏正Modifier + head
儿érerhua

老 means old and 伴 means companion; the 儿 ending gives the colloquial form of an elderly spouse.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →

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
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
半
半bàn伴bàn
Same sound today

伴 puts 亻 (person) beside 半. The person part fits the meaning of companion, and 半 gives the sound.

Open 伴 →

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
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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