Meaning of 病人
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- sick person
- patient
- invalid
Measure word: 個|个
How to use 病人
病人 is the everyday word for a patient in a hospital or clinic, and it is used by doctors, nurses and family alike. It follows the same pattern as 工人 (gōngrén) and 家人 (jiārén), a describing word plus 人. Example: 医生正在看病人。(Yīshēng zhèngzài kàn bìngrén.) The doctor is seeing a patient.
病 (bìng) means illness and 人 (rén) means person, so 病人 is simply an ill person. Picture the person 人 lying in the sickbed that the 疒 part at the top of 病 suggests.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 病人 (bìngrén) with 别人 (biérén, other people) because they sound close. 病 is fourth tone with a final -ng, while 别 is second tone with no -ng.
病人 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.
病 bìng · illness · 10 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
人 rén · person · 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
Related words
Words that share a character with 病人.
| 女人 | nǚrén | woman |
| 男人 | nánrén | a man; a male |
| 别人 | biérén | other people; others; other person |
| 家人 | jiārén | family member; (old) servant |
| 生病 | shēngbìng | to fall ill |
| 工人 | gōngrén | worker |
| 老人 | lǎorén | old man or woman; the elderly |
| 看病 | kànbìng | to visit a doctor; to see a patient |
| 有人 | yǒu rén | someone; people |
| 人们 | rénmen | people |
| 大人 | dàren | adult; grownup |
| 客人 | kèrén | visitor; guest; customer |
Questions about 病人
What does 病人 mean?
病人 (bìngrén) means "sick person; patient" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 病人?
病人 is made of 2 characters: 病 (10 strokes), 人 (2 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.
Is 病人 an HSK word?
Yes. 病人 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I say someone is sick, not that they are a patient?
Use the verb 生病 (shēngbìng) or 病了 (bìng le), as in 他生病了 (Tā shēngbìng le), He is sick. 病人 is a noun for the person, so it does not work as a verb.
Is 病人 polite to use when talking about someone?
Yes, it is neutral and is the normal word in hospitals and daily speech. It is not rude, though friends usually just say the person is 不舒服 (bù shūfu), not feeling well.