女朋友 meaning in English

nǚpéngyou

girlfriend

HSK 1noun15 strokes

Meaning of 女朋友

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

nǚpéngyou
  1. girlfriend

How to use 女朋友

女朋友 usually means a romantic girlfriend, not just any female friend. People often add 我的 or just 我 before it: 我女朋友是老师。(Wǒ nǚpéngyou shì lǎoshī.) My girlfriend is a teacher.

女 (nǚ) means female and 朋友 (péngyou) means friend, so a 女朋友 is literally a "female friend" who has become your girlfriend. Picture 女 as a woman kneeling, standing next to the two moons of 朋, a pair who belong together.

Common mistake: Learners often use 女朋友 to mean a female friend in general, which suggests romance. To say a friend who happens to be a woman, say 女性朋友 (nǚxìng péngyou) or just 朋友. Also remember 女 is nǚ with ü, not nǔ.

女朋友 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

我wǒ开kāi始shǐ想xiǎng我wǒ女nǚ朋péng友yǒu了le。
I'm starting to miss my girlfriend.
我wǒ就jiù知zhī道dào你nǐ有yǒu女nǚ朋péng友yǒu!
I knew you had a girlfriend!
我wǒ不bù喜xǐ欢huān你nǐ的de女nǚ朋péng友yǒu。
I don't like your girlfriend.
我wǒ女nǚ朋péng友yǒu去qù了le加jiā拿ná大dà。
My girlfriend has gone to Canada.
听tīng说shuō你nǐ有yǒu新xīn女nǚ朋péng友yǒu了le。
I hear you have a new girlfriend.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

女 nǚ · female · 3 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

朋 péng · friend · 8 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8

友 yǒu · friend · 4 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

Related words

Words that share a character with 女朋友.

朋友péngyoufriend
女人nǚrénwoman
女儿nǚ'érdaughter
男朋友nánpéngyouboyfriend
女生nǚshēngschoolgirl; female student
小朋友xiǎopéngyǒuchild; kid (used to refer to a child, or by an adult to address a child, or, in Taiwan, to
女孩儿nǚháirerhua form of 女孩[nu : 3 hai2]
网友wǎngyǒuonline friend; netizen; Internet user
朋友们péngyoumen
老朋友lǎo péngyouold friend; (slang) period
友好yǒuhǎofriendly; amicable; close friend
交朋友jiāo péngyouto make friends; (dialect) to start an affair with sb

Questions about 女朋友

What does 女朋友 mean?

女朋友 (nǚpéngyou) means "girlfriend" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 女朋友?

女朋友 is made of 3 characters: 女 (3 strokes), 朋 (8 strokes), 友 (4 strokes). That is 15 strokes in total.

Is 女朋友 an HSK word?

Yes. 女朋友 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the tone of 友 in 女朋友?

In everyday speech 友 is usually neutral tone, so you say nǚpéngyou. Some dictionaries and speakers give it a third tone, péngyǒu, and both are understood.

Can a woman call her female friend 女朋友?

In mainland usage this still tends to suggest a romantic partner. Many women instead say 闺蜜 (guīmì) for a close girlfriend or simply 朋友.