Meaning of 老朋友
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- old friend
- (slang) period
- menstruation
How to use 老朋友
老朋友 is used for friends you have known for years, and it sounds warm and close. It can also describe a long relationship between companies or countries. Example: 他是我的老朋友。(Tā shì wǒ de lǎo péngyou.) He is an old friend of mine.
老 (lǎo) means old or long-standing, and 朋友 (péngyou) means friend. Put them together and you get a friend you have known for a long time, not necessarily an elderly one.
Common mistake: Learners often think 老朋友 means a friend who is elderly, but 老 here means long-standing, so a 25-year-old can be your 老朋友. Also, 友 in 朋友 is usually read in the neutral tone (péngyou), so do not stress it as yǒu in normal speech.
老朋友 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.
老 lǎo · prefix used before the surname of a per… · 6 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 老朋友.
| 朋友 | péngyou | friend |
| 老师 | lǎoshī | teacher |
| 女朋友 | nǚpéngyou | girlfriend |
| 男朋友 | nánpéngyou | boyfriend |
| 老人 | lǎorén | old man or woman; the elderly |
| 小朋友 | xiǎopéngyǒu | child; kid (used to refer to a child, or by an adult to address a child, or, in Taiwan, to |
| 网友 | wǎngyǒu | online friend; netizen; Internet user |
| 朋友们 | péngyoumen | |
| 老是 | lǎoshì | always |
| 友好 | yǒuhǎo | friendly; amicable; close friend |
| 交朋友 | jiāo péngyou | to make friends; (dialect) to start an affair with sb |
| 老年 | lǎonián | elderly; old age |
Questions about 老朋友
What does 老朋友 mean?
老朋友 (lǎo péngyou) means "old friend; (slang) period".
How do you write 老朋友?
老朋友 is made of 3 characters: 老 (6 strokes), 朋 (8 strokes), 友 (4 strokes). That is 18 strokes in total.
Is 老朋友 an HSK word?
Yes. 老朋友 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 老朋友 also mean period or menstruation?
It is a slang euphemism, because the period is like an old friend who visits regularly. You may hear women say 老朋友来了 (lǎo péngyou lái le) to mean their period has started, so context matters.
What is the difference between 老朋友 and 小朋友?
老朋友 is a long-time friend, while 小朋友 (xiǎopéngyǒu) means a child or kid. Adults often use 小朋友 to address children, so the two words are not opposites in meaning.