Chinese word

有人

Pronunciation

Pinyinyǒu rén

Meaning

  • pronounsomeone

Example

家里有人吗？jiā lǐ yǒu rén ma

Is anyone home?

Illustration for 有人 (someone)

More examples

门口有人在等你。mén kǒu yǒu rén zài děng nǐ

Someone is waiting for you at the door.

Core concept

Marks a place or situation as having at least one person in it.

Common phrases

  • 家里有人jiā lǐ yǒu rén

    someone is at home

  • 有人帮忙yǒu rén bāng máng

    someone helps

  • 有人知道yǒu rén zhī dào

    someone knows

Similar words

谁shuí: Asks which person is meant or who someone is.
没人méi rén: Indicates that not a single person is present.
别人bié rén: Refers to a person or people other than oneself.
大家dà jiā: Refers to everyone in a group or to many people together.

Definition in Chinese

表示某处存在人，既可指具体的某人，也可泛指有人或有人群的情况。biǎo shì mǒu chù cún zài rén jì kě zhǐ jù tǐ de mǒu rén yě kě fàn zhǐ yǒu rén huò yǒu rén qún de qíng kuàng

Word origin

有人 (yǒurén, "someone") combines 有 (yǒu, "to have; there is") + 人 (rén, "person"), forming a compact way to show that a person is present.

Usage tips

  • English often focuses on who the person is, but this Chinese form can focus only on whether anyone is present, so it fits checks at a door, in a room, or on a phone.

Other meanings

  • someone is presentpronoun

Opposites

  • 没人méi rénnobodypronoun
  • 无人wú rénnobodypronoun

Word lists with this word