One of the first, easiest, and most important characters you’ll learn in Chinese is the one for person (人 – rén). Back in the day, this character was actually a pictograph depicting a man. As you can see, it has been abbreviated over time. Check out this short video to learn how to properly write this character:

Not surprisingly, tons of words are formed with this character. Here are 25 words featuring the character for person:

• personal/individual (个人 – gè rén)

• woman (女人 – nǚ rén)

• man (男人 – nán rén)

• everyone (人人 – rén rén)

• worker (工人 – gōng rén)

• adult (大人 – dà rén)

• elderly (老人 – lǎo rén)

• family (家人 – jiā rén)

• lover/sweetheart (爱人 – Ài rén)

• other people (别人 – bié rén)

• businessperson (商人 – shāng rén)

• enemy (敌人 – dí rén)

• population (人口 – rén kǒu)

• talented person (人才 – rén cái)

• private (私人 – sī rén)

• snowman (雪人 – xuě rén)

• manpower (人力 – rén lì)

• every person (每个人 – měi gè rén)

• American (美国人 – měi guó rén)

• Chinese (中国人 – zhōng guó rén)

• leader (领导人 – lǐng dǎo rén)

• person in charge (负责人 – fù zé rén)

• spokesperson (发言人 – fā yán rén)

• defendant (被告人 – bèi gào rén)

• candidate (候选人 – hòu xuǎn rén)

As you may have noticed, to form the Chinese word for a nationality, you just add the character for person after the name of a country. There’s another common word used to mean “people” (人民 – rén mín), as in the people of China. This is commonly used in official names, including the name of the country. Here are some examples of this word in use:

Outside the People’s University in Beijing, my former place of employment.

• The People’s Republic of China (中国人民共和国 – zhōng guó rén mín gòng hé guó)

• Middle People’s Road (人民中路– rén mín zhōng lù)

• People’s University (人民大学 – rén mín dà xué)

• People’s Park (人民公园 – rén mín gōng yuán)

• People’s Square (人民广场 – rén mín guǎng chǎng)

If you’re a wrestling fan like me, then you should already know who the “人民冠军” is…

Image by Ed Webster from www.flickr.com

The People’s Champ (人民冠军 – rén mín guàn jūn)

Whenever you learn a new Chinese character, it’s a good idea to make a list of words featuring that character. It’s a great way to start building your vocabulary and improving your fluency. Make sure you learn a new Chinese word every day with us!