儿女 meaning in English
children; sons and daughters; a young man and a young woman (in love)
Meaning of 儿女
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- children; sons and daughters
- a young man and a young woman (in love)
How to use 儿女
儿女 is a slightly formal or written word for a person's children as a group, often used when talking about family duty or parents' feelings. It also appears in the set phrase 儿女情长 (érnǚ qíng cháng), which describes tender romantic feelings. Example: 他的儿女都在外地工作。(Tā de érnǚ dōu zài wàidì gōngzuò.) His children all work in other cities.
儿 (ér) means son or child and 女 (nǚ) means woman or daughter. Put a son and a daughter side by side and you get 儿女, all of someone's children.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 儿女 (érnǚ, children) with 女儿 (nǚ'ér, daughter), since the same two characters just swap order. Also remember that 女 here is nǚ with ü and a third tone, not nǔ.
儿女 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.
儿 ér · son · 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
女 nǚ · female · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 儿女.
| 女人 | nǚrén | woman |
| 这儿 | zhèr | here |
| 儿子 | érzi | son |
| 哪儿 | nǎr | where?; wherever; anywhere; somewhere |
| 女儿 | nǚ'ér | daughter |
| 那儿 | nàr | there |
| 女朋友 | nǚpéngyou | girlfriend |
| 一会儿 | yīhuìr | a moment; a while |
| 女生 | nǚshēng | schoolgirl; female student |
| 没事儿 | méishìr | to have spare time; free from work |
| 一点儿 | yīdiǎnr | erhua variant of 一點|一点[yi1 dian3] |
| 女孩儿 | nǚháir | erhua form of 女孩[nu : 3 hai2] |
Questions about 儿女
What does 儿女 mean?
儿女 (érnǚ) means "children; sons and daughters; a young man and a young woman (in love)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 儿女?
儿女 is made of 2 characters: 儿 (2 strokes), 女 (3 strokes). That is 5 strokes in total.
Is 儿女 an HSK word?
Yes. 儿女 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 儿女 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 儿女 is written 兒女.
What is the difference between 儿女 and 孩子?
孩子 (háizi) is the everyday word for kids or children and can mean any child. 儿女 specifically means one's own sons and daughters and sounds more formal, so it is common in writing, speeches and talk about filial duty.
Can 儿女 refer to a single child?
Usually no. 儿女 suggests children as a group, sons and daughters together. For one child, use 儿子 (érzi) for a son, 女儿 (nǚ'ér) for a daughter, or simply 孩子 (háizi).