人物 meaning in English
person; personage; figure (esp. sb of importance); character (in a play, novel etc)
Meaning of 人物
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- person; personage; figure (esp. sb of importance)
- character (in a play, novel etc)
- (genre of traditional Chinese painting) figure painting
How to use 人物
人物 is used for important or well-known people and for characters in novels, films, and plays. It often takes a describing word in front, like 历史人物 (lìshǐ rénwù, historical figure) or 主要人物 (zhǔyào rénwù, main character). Example: 这本小说的人物很有意思。(Zhè běn xiǎoshuō de rénwù hěn yǒu yìsi.) The characters in this novel are very interesting.
人 (rén) is a person and 物 (wù) is a thing or being. Put them together and you get a person seen as a figure in the world, someone notable or a character in a story.
Common mistake: Learners often use 人物 to mean an ordinary person, as in 'there are many 人物 on the street.' For everyday people use 人 (rén) instead. Also keep the second syllable in fourth tone, wù, and do not confuse 物 with 务 (wù), which appears in 服务 (fúwù, service).
人物 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
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物 wù · thing · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 人物.
Questions about 人物
What does 人物 mean?
人物 (rénwù) means "person; personage; figure (esp. sb of importance); character (in a play, novel etc)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 人物?
人物 is made of 2 characters: 人 (2 strokes), 物 (8 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.
Is 人物 an HSK word?
Yes. 人物 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 人物 and 角色 for a character in a story?
人物 is the character as a person in the story itself. 角色 (juésè) is the role, often the part an actor plays. You say 小说人物 for a novel's characters and 演一个角色 for playing a role.
Can 人物 describe someone famous in real life?
Yes. It often means a notable figure, as in 重要人物 (zhòngyào rénwù, an important person) or 风云人物 (fēngyún rénwù, a high-profile person of the moment). Calling someone 大人物 (dà rénwù) means they are a big shot.