Meaning of 妇女
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- woman
How to use 妇女
妇女 (fùnǚ) is a formal, collective word for women, common in news, law, and public life, and it usually refers to adult women. A well-known example is 三八妇女节 (sān bā fùnǚ jié), International Women's Day on March 8. Example: 这个组织帮助农村妇女。(Zhège zǔzhī bāngzhù nóngcūn fùnǚ.) This organization helps rural women.
Both characters contain 女 (nǚ), the woman component. 妇 (fù) adds a hand-like part on the right, and together 妇女 (fùnǚ) means women as a group.
Common mistake: Learners often use 妇女 for one specific woman, as in 那个妇女, which sounds stiff or odd in daily speech. For an individual, 女人 (nǚrén), 女士 (nǚshì), or 女的 (nǚ de) is more natural. Also note the tones: fù is fourth tone, and nǚ needs the ü sound, not nu.
妇女 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.
妇 fù · married woman · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
女 nǚ · female · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 妇女.
| 女人 | nǚrén | woman |
| 女儿 | nǚ'ér | daughter |
| 女朋友 | nǚpéngyou | girlfriend |
| 女生 | nǚshēng | schoolgirl; female student |
| 女孩儿 | nǚháir | erhua form of 女孩[nu : 3 hai2] |
| 女子 | nǚzǐ | woman; female |
| 子女 | zǐnǚ | children; sons and daughters |
| 女士 | nǚshì | lady; madam |
| 美女 | měinǚ | beautiful woman |
| 夫妇 | fūfù | a (married) couple; husband and wife |
| 男女 | nánnǚ | male-female; male and female |
| 孙女 | sūnnǚ | son's daughter; granddaughter |
Questions about 妇女
What does 妇女 mean?
妇女 (fùnǚ) means "woman" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 妇女?
妇女 is made of 2 characters: 妇 (6 strokes), 女 (3 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 妇女 an HSK word?
Yes. 妇女 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 妇女 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 妇女 is written 婦女.
What is the difference between 妇女 and 女人?
妇女 is formal and collective, used for women as a social group, such as 妇女权益 (women's rights). 女人 is everyday and can refer to one woman or women in general, sometimes with a casual tone.
Does 妇女 include girls?
Usually not. 妇女 generally refers to adult women. For girls, people say 女孩儿 (nǚháir) or 女孩子 (nǚháizi), and the set phrase 妇女儿童 (fùnǚ értóng) means women and children.