Meaning of 民间
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- among the people
- popular
- folk
- non-governmental
- involving people rather than governments
How to use 民间
民间 often goes before another noun to mean folk or non-governmental, as in 民间故事 (mínjiān gùshi, folk tale) or 民间组织 (mínjiān zǔzhī, NGO). It can also stand alone as a place-like noun, often with 在 or 流传. Example: 这个故事在民间流传了很久。(Zhège gùshi zài mínjiān liúchuán le hěn jiǔ.) This story has been passed around among the people for a long time.
民 (mín) means the people, as in 人民 (rénmín), and 间 (jiān) means among or between, as in 中间 (zhōngjiān). Put them together and 民间 is what happens among the people, not up in the government.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes use 民间 to mean popular in the sense of trendy or well liked, but for that you need 流行 (liúxíng) or 受欢迎 (shòu huānyíng). 民间 only means popular in the sense of coming from ordinary people, like folk art.
民间 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.
民 mín · citizens · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
间 jiān · between · 7 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Related words
Words that share a character with 民间.
| 时间 | shíjiān | (concept of) time; (duration of) time |
| 房间 | fángjiān | room |
| 中间 | zhōngjiān | the middle; the inside; in the middle; within; between; among |
| 洗手间 | xǐshǒujiān | toilet; lavatory |
| 人民 | rénmín | the people |
| 公民 | gōngmín | citizen |
| 农民 | nóngmín | peasant; farmer |
| 民族 | mínzú | nationality; ethnic group |
| 卫生间 | wèishēngjiān | bathroom; toilet |
| 人民币 | rénmínbì | Renminbi, the official currency of the PRC (currency codes: RMB or CNY) |
| 中华民族 | Zhōnghuá Mínzú | the Chinese nation; the Chinese people (collective reference to all the ethnic groups in C |
| 之间 | zhījiān | (after a noun) between; among; amid; (used after certain bisyllabic words to form expressi |
Questions about 民间
What does 民间 mean?
民间 (mínjiān) means "among the people; popular" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 民间?
民间 is made of 2 characters: 民 (5 strokes), 间 (7 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.
Is 民间 an HSK word?
Yes. 民间 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 民间 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 民间 is written 民間.
What is the difference between 民间 and 人民?
人民 (rénmín) is the people as a group, often used in political or formal language. 民间 describes the space or level of ordinary people, so it often works like an adjective meaning folk or non-official.
Does 民间 mean the same as private?
Partly. 民间 can mean non-governmental, as in 民间资本 (private capital). For private in the sense of personal, use 私人 (sīrén) instead.