Meaning of 群众
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- mass
- multitude
- the masses
How to use 群众
群众 often appears in news, government and formal writing to mean ordinary people as opposed to officials or leaders. It is common in set phrases like 人民群众 (rénmín qúnzhòng, the people). Example: 政府要听取群众的意见。(Zhèngfǔ yào tīngqǔ qúnzhòng de yìjiàn.) The government should listen to the opinions of the people.
群 (qún) means a group or flock, and 众 (zhòng) shows three 人 (rén) people stacked together, so many people. A big group of many people gives you 群众, the masses.
Common mistake: Learners often use 群众 for any crowd, but for a physical crowd on the street 人群 (rénqún) is more natural, and for people watching a show you need 观众 (guānzhòng). Also, 众 is fourth tone (zhòng), not first tone like 中 (zhōng).
群众 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.
群 qún · group · 13 strokes
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众 zhòng · multitude · 6 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 群众.
| 观众 | guānzhòng | spectators; audience; visitors (to an exhibition etc) |
| 人群 | rénqún | crowd |
| 听众 | tīngzhòng | audience; listeners |
| 大众 | dàzhòng | the masses; the great bulk of the population |
| 众多 | zhòngduō | numerous |
| 群体 | qúntǐ | community; colony |
| 公众 | gōngzhòng | public |
| 民众 | mínzhòng | the populace; the masses; the common people |
| 与众不同 | yǔzhòng-bùtóng | (idiom) to stand out from the crowd; distinctive; different from the rest |
| 众人 | zhòngrén | everyone |
| 众所周知 | zhòngsuǒzhōuzhī | (idiom) as everyone knows |
| 当众 | dāngzhòng | in public; in front of everybody |
Questions about 群众
What does 群众 mean?
群众 (qúnzhòng) means "mass; multitude" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 群众?
群众 is made of 2 characters: 群 (13 strokes), 众 (6 strokes). That is 19 strokes in total.
Is 群众 an HSK word?
Yes. 群众 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 群众 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 群众 is written 群眾.
What is the difference between 群众 and 大众?
Both mean the masses, but 群众 has a political or social flavor and often contrasts ordinary people with officials. 大众 (dàzhòng) is more neutral and commercial, as in 大众文化 (dàzhòng wénhuà, popular culture).
Can 群众 refer to one person?
In some contexts, yes. In official language a person who is not a Party member may be described as 群众, for example on a form listing political status. In everyday speech, though, it usually means people in general.