人民币 meaning in English
Renminbi, the official currency of the PRC (currency codes: RMB or CNY)
Meaning of 人民币
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- Renminbi, the official currency of the PRC (currency codes: RMB or CNY)
How to use 人民币
人民币 is the formal name of China's currency, used on signs, in banks, and in writing. In everyday speech people count money with 块 (kuài) or the more formal 元 (yuán), not 人民币. Example: 这里可以换人民币吗？ (Zhèlǐ kěyǐ huàn rénmínbì ma?) Can I exchange for RMB here?
Break it into parts: 人民 (rénmín) means "the people" and 币 (bì) means "currency." So 人民币 is literally "the people's currency," the money of the People's Republic.
Common mistake: Learners often say prices like 十人民币 (shí rénmínbì) for "ten RMB," but Chinese uses 十块 (shí kuài) or 十元 (shí yuán). Also watch the tone on 币 (bì): it is fourth tone, not 笔 (bǐ, pen) in third tone.
人民币 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
币 bì · currency · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 人民币.
| 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 人民币
What does 人民币 mean?
人民币 (rénmínbì) means "Renminbi, the official currency of the PRC (currency codes: RMB or CNY)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 人民币?
人民币 is made of 3 characters: 人 (2 strokes), 民 (5 strokes), 币 (4 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 人民币 an HSK word?
Yes. 人民币 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 人民币 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 人民币 is written 人民幣.
What is the difference between 人民币, 元, and 块?
人民币 is the name of the currency itself. 元 (yuán) is the formal unit, as printed on banknotes and written prices. 块 (kuài) is the casual spoken word for the same unit.
Why are there two codes, RMB and CNY?
RMB is the abbreviation of the name Renminbi. CNY is the international standard currency code used in banking and exchange rates. Both refer to the same money.