Meaning of 男朋友
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- boyfriend
How to use 男朋友
Use 男朋友 for a romantic partner, not just any male friend. It often takes 我 or 她 directly in front without 的. Example: 她有男朋友了。(Tā yǒu nánpéngyou le.) She has a boyfriend now.
男朋友 is simply 男 (nán, male) plus 朋友 (péngyou, friend). A male friend in the romantic sense is your boyfriend, and 男 itself shows 田 (field) over 力 (strength), a man working the field.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes say 男朋友 when they only mean a friend who is male, which sounds like dating. Say 男性朋友 (nánxìng péngyou) or just 朋友 instead. Also, 友 is read in the neutral tone here, so say nánpéngyou, not nánpéngyǒu.
男朋友 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
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朋 péng · friend · 8 strokes
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友 yǒu · friend · 4 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 男朋友.
| 朋友 | péngyou | friend |
| 男人 | nánrén | a man; a male |
| 女朋友 | nǚpéngyou | girlfriend |
| 男生 | nánshēng | schoolboy; male student |
| 小朋友 | xiǎopéngyǒu | child; kid (used to refer to a child, or by an adult to address a child, or, in Taiwan, to |
| 男孩儿 | nánháir | erhua form of 男孩[nan2 hai2] |
| 网友 | wǎngyǒu | online friend; netizen; Internet user |
| 朋友们 | péngyoumen | |
| 老朋友 | lǎo péngyou | old friend; (slang) period |
| 友好 | yǒuhǎo | friendly; amicable; close friend |
| 交朋友 | jiāo péngyou | to make friends; (dialect) to start an affair with sb |
| 男子 | nánzǐ | a man; a male |
Questions about 男朋友
What does 男朋友 mean?
男朋友 (nánpéngyou) means "boyfriend" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 男朋友?
男朋友 is made of 3 characters: 男 (7 strokes), 朋 (8 strokes), 友 (4 strokes). That is 19 strokes in total.
Is 男朋友 an HSK word?
Yes. 男朋友 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I say girlfriend in Chinese?
Swap 男 for 女 (nǚ, female) to get 女朋友 (nǚpéngyou). The pattern works the same way in every sentence.
Is there a shorter or casual way to say 男朋友?
In casual speech and texting people often shorten it to 男友 (nányǒu). Many also just say 我对象 (duìxiàng) to mean their partner.