Meaning of 国民
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- nationals
- citizens
- people of a nation
How to use 国民
国民 is a formal word used in news, law, economics and government writing, often as a modifier before another noun. Common phrases include 国民经济 (guómín jīngjì, national economy) and 国民教育 (guómín jiàoyù, national education). Example: 每个国民都有纳税的义务。 (Měi gè guómín dōu yǒu nàshuì de yìwù.) Every citizen has the duty to pay taxes.
国 (guó) means country and 民 (mín) means people, so 国民 (guómín) is simply the people who belong to a country. Picture everyone standing inside the borders of the 国 box.
Common mistake: Learners often use 国民 in casual speech where 人民 (rénmín) or 老百姓 (lǎobǎixìng) sounds more natural. 国民 stresses legal membership in a nation, so it fits formal or statistical contexts better than everyday talk. Also keep 国 in the second tone and 民 in the second tone, guómín, not guǒmín.
国民 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.
国 guó · country · 8 strokes
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民 mín · citizens · 5 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 国民.
| 国家 | guójiā | country; nation; state |
| 中国 | Zhōngguó | China |
| 外国 | wàiguó | foreign country |
| 国外 | guó wài | abroad; external (affairs) |
| 国际 | guójì | international |
| 全国 | quánguó | whole nation; nationwide |
| 出国 | chūguó | to go abroad; to leave the country |
| 回国 | huí guó | to return to one's home country |
| 人民 | rénmín | the people |
| 公民 | gōngmín | citizen |
| 农民 | nóngmín | peasant; farmer |
| 国内 | guó nèi | domestic; internal (to a country) |
Questions about 国民
What does 国民 mean?
国民 (guómín) means "nationals; citizens" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 国民?
国民 is made of 2 characters: 国 (8 strokes), 民 (5 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.
Is 国民 an HSK word?
Yes. 国民 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 国民 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 国民 is written 國民.
What is the difference between 国民 and 公民?
公民 (gōngmín) is the standard legal term for a citizen with rights and duties, as in 中国公民. 国民 is broader and often appears in fixed economic or social terms like 国民经济 or 国民收入. In many contexts they overlap, but 公民 is more common on official documents.
Can 国民 be used to describe something nationally popular?
Yes. In modern informal Chinese, 国民 is used as a prefix meaning loved by the whole nation, as in 国民女神 (guómín nǚshén, national goddess) or 国民美食 (guómín měishí, a dish everyone loves). This usage is common online and in entertainment news.