Meaning of 男子
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- a man; a male
How to use 男子
男子 is more formal than 男人 (nánrén) and often appears in news, sports, and signs, such as 男子100米 (the men's 100 meters). Example: 一名男子在车站被警察带走了。 (Yī míng nánzǐ zài chēzhàn bèi jǐngchá dàizǒu le.) A man was taken away by police at the station.
男 (nán) shows 田 (field) over 力 (strength), a person who works the field with strength. Add 子 (zǐ), here meaning a person, and you get 男子, a man.
Common mistake: Learners often read 子 here with a neutral tone, as in 孩子 (háizi) or 桌子 (zhuōzi), but in 男子 it keeps its full third tone: nánzǐ. Also, 男子 sounds stiff in casual talk, so say 男人 or 男的 (nán de) with friends.
男子 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.
男 nán · male · 7 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
子 zi · noun suffix · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 男子.
| 孩子 | háizi | child |
| 男人 | nánrén | a man; a male |
| 儿子 | érzi | son |
| 房子 | fángzi | house; building (single- or two-story) |
| 男朋友 | nánpéngyou | boyfriend |
| 桌子 | zhuōzi | table; desk |
| 男生 | nánshēng | schoolboy; male student |
| 杯子 | bēizi | cup; glass |
| 包子 | bāozi | baozi; bao (steamed stuffed bun) |
| 本子 | běnzi | book; notebook |
| 男孩儿 | nánháir | erhua form of 男孩[nan2 hai2] |
| 样子 | yàngzi | appearance; manner |
Questions about 男子
What does 男子 mean?
男子 (nánzǐ) means "a man; a male" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 男子?
男子 is made of 2 characters: 男 (7 strokes), 子 (3 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.
Is 男子 an HSK word?
Yes. 男子 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the female counterpart of 男子?
The matching word is 女子 (nǚzǐ), a woman. You see the pair on sports events, for example 男子组 (men's group) and 女子组 (women's group).
Can 男子 mean a boy?
Usually no. 男子 refers to an adult man. For a boy, use 男孩 (nánhái) or 男孩子 (nán háizi), and for a son, use 儿子 (érzi).