Meaning of 人民
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- the people
How to use 人民
人民 is a formal, collective word for the people of a nation, common in news, politics, and official names. You see it in names like 人民币 (rénmínbì, the Chinese currency) and 人民日报 (Rénmín Rìbào, People's Daily). Example: 为人民服务。(Wèi rénmín fúwù.) Serve the people.
人 (rén) is a person and 民 (mín) means the common people, so 人民 is all the persons who make up the people of a country. Picture many 人 standing together to form one 民.
Common mistake: Learners use 人民 to mean "people" in everyday sense, as in "many people came," but that should be 很多人来了 (hěn duō rén lái le), not 人民. Also keep 民 (mín) in second tone, not third.
人民 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
民 mín · citizens · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 人民.
| 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 |
| 有人 | yǒu rén | someone; people |
| 人们 | rénmen | people |
| 大人 | dàren | adult; grownup |
| 客人 | kèrén | visitor; guest; customer |
| 好人 | hǎorén | good person; healthy person |
Questions about 人民
What does 人民 mean?
人民 (rénmín) means "the people" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 人民?
人民 is made of 2 characters: 人 (2 strokes), 民 (5 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 人民 an HSK word?
Yes. 人民 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 人民 and 人们?
人民 (rénmín) means the people as a political or national group. 人们 (rénmen) means people in general, as in 人们都喜欢周末 (Rénmen dōu xǐhuan zhōumò), people all like weekends.
Can I say 一个人民?
No. 人民 is a collective noun and does not take a measure word for one person. To talk about one person, use 一个人 (yí ge rén).