Meaning of 青年
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- youth
- youthful years
- young person
- the young
How to use 青年
青年 is a noun for young people, usually people from their late teens to their thirties. It often appears in formal or public settings, such as 青年人 (young people) or 青年节 (Youth Day). Example: 他是一个很有想法的青年。(Tā shì yí gè hěn yǒu xiǎngfǎ de qīngnián.) He is a young man with a lot of ideas.
青 (qīng) is the fresh green-blue of new plants, and 年 (nián) means year or age. Picture someone in the green spring of their years, and you have 青年, a young person.
Common mistake: Learners often use 青年 as an adjective, saying 他很青年. That is wrong. For the adjective "young" use 年轻 (niánqīng): 他很年轻. Also, 青 is first tone (qīng), so do not confuse it with 请 (qǐng, please) or 情 (qíng, feeling).
青年 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.
青 qīng · green · 8 strokes
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年 nián · year · 6 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 青年.
Questions about 青年
What does 青年 mean?
青年 (qīngnián) means "youth; youthful years" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 青年?
青年 is made of 2 characters: 青 (8 strokes), 年 (6 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.
Is 青年 an HSK word?
Yes. 青年 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 青年 and 年轻人?
Both mean young people. 年轻人 (niánqīngrén) is more common in everyday speech. 青年 sounds a bit more formal and is common in news, organizations, and written Chinese.
Can 青年 describe a child or a teenager?
Not usually. Children are 孩子 (háizi) or 儿童 (értóng), and younger teens are often called 少年 (shàonián). 青年 typically refers to people from their late teens into their thirties.