Meaning of 演员
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- actor; actress; performer
How to use 演员
演员 is the general word for actors and actresses in film, TV, and theater, and it does not change for gender. You often hear it with words like 电影 (diànyǐng) or 著名 (zhùmíng). Example: 她是一个很有名的演员。(Tā shì yí gè hěn yǒumíng de yǎnyuán.) She is a very famous actress.
演 (yǎn) means to perform, as in 表演 (biǎoyǎn), and 员 (yuán) means a person with a role, as in 人员 (rényuán) or 成员 (chéngyuán). Put them together and you get a person whose job is to perform: an actor or performer.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes mix up 演员 (actor) with 导演 (dǎoyǎn, director), since both contain 演. Also keep the tones straight: 演 is third tone (yǎn) and 员 is second tone (yuán), so do not say yánYuàn.
演员 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.
演 yǎn · to perform · 14 strokes
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员 yuán · person engaged in a certain field of ac… · 7 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 演员.
| 表演 | biǎoyǎn | play; show |
| 演出 | yǎnchū | to act (in a play); to perform |
| 人员 | rényuán | staff; crew |
| 成员 | chéngyuán | member |
| 导演 | dǎoyǎn | to direct; director (film etc) |
| 员工 | yuángōng | staff; personnel; employee |
| 队员 | duìyuán | team member |
| 演唱 | yǎnchàng | to sing (for an audience); vocal performance |
| 服务员 | fúwùyuán | waiter; waitress |
| 演唱会 | yǎnchànghuì | vocal recital or concert |
| 会员 | huìyuán | member |
| 公务员 | gōngwùyuán | civil servant; public servant |
Questions about 演员
What does 演员 mean?
演员 (yǎnyuán) means "actor; actress; performer" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 演员?
演员 is made of 2 characters: 演 (14 strokes), 员 (7 strokes). That is 21 strokes in total.
Is 演员 an HSK word?
Yes. 演员 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 演员 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 演员 is written 演員.
Is there a separate Chinese word for actress?
演员 covers both men and women. If you need to specify, you can say 女演员 (nǚ yǎnyuán) for actress or 男演员 (nán yǎnyuán) for actor.
How do I say what kind of performer someone is?
Put a describing word in front of 演员. For example, 电影演员 (diànyǐng yǎnyuán) is a film actor and 京剧演员 (jīngjù yǎnyuán) is a Peking opera performer.