Meaning of 民警
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- civil police
- PRC police
- abbr. for 人民警察
How to use 民警
民警 is the standard term in mainland China for ordinary police officers, often seen in news reports and official notices. It frequently appears with a place or unit before it, such as 派出所民警 (pàichūsuǒ mínjǐng, local police station officer). Example: 一位民警帮我找到了钱包。(Yí wèi mínjǐng bāng wǒ zhǎodào le qiánbāo.) A police officer helped me find my wallet.
民警 is simply 人民警察 (rénmín jǐngchá) cut down to two characters. Take 民 (mín) from 人民, "the people," and 警 (jǐng) from 警察, "police," and you get "the people's police."
Common mistake: Learners sometimes read 警 with the wrong tone. It is third tone, jǐng, the same as in 警察 (jǐngchá). Another trap is calling out "民警" to get help on the street. In everyday speech people usually say 警察 and save 民警 for news, notices, and more formal contexts.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
民 mín · citizens · 5 strokes
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警 jǐng · to guard · 19 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 民警.
| 警察 | jǐngchá | police; police officer |
| 人民 | rénmín | the people |
| 公民 | gōngmín | citizen |
| 农民 | nóngmín | peasant; farmer |
| 民族 | mínzú | nationality; ethnic group |
| 民间 | mínjiān | among the people; popular |
| 人民币 | rénmínbì | Renminbi, the official currency of the PRC (currency codes: RMB or CNY) |
| 交警 | jiāojǐng | traffic police (abbr. for 交通警察[jiao1 tong1 jing3 cha2]) |
| 中华民族 | Zhōnghuá Mínzú | the Chinese nation; the Chinese people (collective reference to all the ethnic groups in C |
| 居民 | jūmín | resident; inhabitant |
| 移民 | yímín | to immigrate; to migrate |
| 警告 | jǐnggào | to warn; to admonish |
Questions about 民警
What does 民警 mean?
民警 (mínjǐng) means "civil police; PRC police" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 民警?
民警 is made of 2 characters: 民 (5 strokes), 警 (19 strokes). That is 24 strokes in total.
Is 民警 an HSK word?
Yes. 民警 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 民警 and 警察?
警察 (jǐngchá) is the general word for police anywhere in the world and is the most common spoken choice. 民警 specifically refers to the People's Police of the PRC and sounds more official, so it shows up often in news and government language.
Can I use 民警 for police in other countries?
Usually not. 民警 is tied to the PRC's 人民警察 system, so for police in the US, UK, or elsewhere you would say 警察, for example 美国警察 (Měiguó jǐngchá).