Meaning of 人口
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- population
- people
How to use 人口
人口 is the normal word for the population of a country, city, or village. It often appears with 多 (duō) or 少 (shǎo), or with numbers. Example: 中国人口很多。(Zhōngguó rénkǒu hěn duō.) China has a large population.
人口 combines 人 (rén, person) and 口 (kǒu, mouth). Think of counting every mouth that needs to be fed in a place, and you get its population.
Common mistake: Learners often say 人口很大 by copying English "large population." 人口很多 is the more natural everyday choice. Also, 人口 means population as a whole, so do not use it to mean "a person" or "some people." Use 人 (rén) for that.
人口 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
人 rén · person · 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
口 kǒu · mouth · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 人口.
| 女人 | nǚrén | woman |
| 男人 | nánrén | a man; a male |
| 别人 | biérén | other people; others; other person |
| 家人 | jiārén | family member; (old) servant |
| 病人 | bìngrén | sick person; patient |
| 工人 | gōngrén | worker |
| 老人 | lǎorén | old man or woman; the elderly |
| 门口 | ménkǒu | doorway; gate |
| 路口 | lùkǒu | crossing; intersection (of roads) |
| 有人 | yǒu rén | someone; people |
| 人们 | rénmen | people |
| 大人 | dàren | adult; grownup |
Questions about 人口
What does 人口 mean?
人口 (rénkǒu) means "population; people" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 人口?
人口 is made of 2 characters: 人 (2 strokes), 口 (3 strokes). That is 5 strokes in total.
Is 人口 an HSK word?
Yes. 人口 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I ask what the population of a city is in Chinese?
You can ask 北京有多少人口？(Běijīng yǒu duōshao rénkǒu?) or 北京的人口是多少？(Běijīng de rénkǒu shì duōshao?). Both mean "What is the population of Beijing?"
Can 人口 be used for the number of people in a family?
Yes. In phrases like 家里人口不多 (jiā li rénkǒu bù duō), it means the household does not have many people. In casual speech people also ask 你家有几口人？(Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?), which uses 口 as a measure word for family members.