HSK · Level 14
135 words
Chinese word
男子
Pronunciation
Pinyinnán zi
Meaning
- nounman
Example
那个男子在商店里买东西。nà ge nán zi zài shāng diàn lǐ mǎi dōng xī
That man is buying things in the store.
More examples
车站里站着一位男子在等车。chē zhàn lǐ zhàn zhe yí wèi nán zi zài děng chē
A man is standing at the station waiting for a vehicle.
Core concept
A formal or label-like category for one male person, without marking his age.
Common phrases
一位男子yí wèi nán zi
a man
Similar words
男人nán rén: An adult man in ordinary spoken language.
男生nán shēng: A young male, especially in a school setting.
男孩nán hái: A young boy or other male child.
男性nán xìng: The male sex viewed as a formal category in statistics and descriptions.
Definition in Chinese
用于表示男性个体的名词，多见于书面或标识场合，不限定年龄，具有分类或正式的语域色彩。yòng yú biǎo shì nán xìng gè tǐ de míng cí duō jiàn yú shū miàn huò biāo shí chǎng hé bú xiàn dìng nián líng jù yǒu fēn lèi huò zhèng shì de yǔ yù sè cǎi
Word origin
男子 (nánzi, "male person") combines 男 (nán, "male") with 子 (zǐ, "person"), giving the compound its direct sense of an individual male.
Usage tips
- The English equivalent can also mean humanity in general, but this Chinese noun keeps the reference to an individual male person.
Other meanings
- malenoun
- young mannoun
Opposites
- 女士nǚ shìwomannoun