Meaning of 客人
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- visitor; guest
- customer
How to use 客人
客人 is used for guests you invite home and also for customers in restaurants, hotels and shops. Example: 今天家里有客人。(Jīntiān jiā lǐ yǒu kèrén.) We have guests at home today.
客 (kè) has the roof radical 宀 on top, so picture a person 人 (rén) arriving under your roof. A 客人 is the person who comes into your home or shop from outside.
Common mistake: Learners often write 客 with 各 (gè) but forget the 宀 roof, or mix it up with 容 (róng), which also has a roof but different parts below. Also keep the tone on 客 falling (kè), not rising.
客人 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.
客 kè · guest · 9 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
人 rén · person · 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
Related words
Words that share a character with 客人.
| 女人 | nǚrén | woman |
| 男人 | nánrén | a man; a male |
| 别人 | biérén | other people; others; other person |
| 家人 | jiārén | family member; (old) servant |
| 病人 | bìngrén | sick person; patient |
| 工人 | gōngrén | worker |
| 老人 | lǎorén | old man or woman; the elderly |
| 不客气 | bù kèqì | you're welcome; don't mention it |
| 有人 | yǒu rén | someone; people |
| 人们 | rénmen | people |
| 大人 | dàren | adult; grownup |
| 好人 | hǎorén | good person; healthy person |
Questions about 客人
What does 客人 mean?
客人 (kèrén) means "visitor; guest; customer" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 客人?
客人 is made of 2 characters: 客 (9 strokes), 人 (2 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 客人 an HSK word?
Yes. 客人 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 客人 and 顾客?
客人 is general and covers both home guests and customers. 顾客 (gùkè) only means a customer in a shop or business, and it sounds a bit more formal.
How do I say be a guest or host in Chinese?
Say 做客 (zuòkè) for being a guest at someone's home, as in 去朋友家做客 (qù péngyou jiā zuòkè). The host is 主人 (zhǔrén), and 请客 (qǐngkè) means to treat someone, often to a meal.