男 (nán): male
男 (nán) is a Chinese character meaning “male.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 田 (structural) and 力 (structural). It ranks #602 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 男 someone who can work 力 the farm 田. Its radical form 田 (field) appears in many related characters such as 电 (diàn, lightning), 由 (yóu, to follow), 画 (huà, to draw, painting).
Definitions
- male
Etymology & Origin
ideographicSomeone who can work 力 the farm 田
Decomposition: ⿱田力 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 男 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 男
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 男人noun | nán rén | a man | 3 |
| 男朋友noun | nán péng you | boyfriend | 1 |
| 男孩儿noun | nán hái r | erhua form of 男孩 | 2 |
| 男生noun | nán shēng | schoolboy | 3 |
| 男性noun | nán xìng | the male sex | 4 |
| 男子noun | nán zǐ | a man | 5 |
| 男士noun | nán shì | man | 4 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 男孩noun | nán hái | boy |
| 男友noun | nán yǒu | boyfriend |
| 男孩子noun | nán hái zi | boy |
| 男女noun | nán nǚ | male-female |
| 男子汉noun | nán zǐ hàn | man (i.e. manly, masculine) |
| 男爵noun | nán jué | baron |
| 男装noun | nán zhuāng | men's clothes |
| 男厕noun | nán cè | men's restroom |
| 男性化verb | nán xìng huà | to masculinize |
| 男儿noun | nán ér | a (real) man |
| 男童noun | nán tóng | boy |
| 男女老少phrase | nán nǚ lǎo shào | men, women, young and old |
| 男方noun | nán fāng | (of a marriage) the bridegroom's side |
| 男女平等 | nán nǚ píng děng | equality of the sexes |
| 男高音noun | nán gāo yīn | tenor (singing voice) |
男 appears in 100 compound words: 66 as the first character, 27 as the last, and 7 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 男 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (13)
male domination and female subordination; male chauvinism; treatment of females as inferior to males
Showing 12 of 13 idioms containing 男.
Example Sentences
男性和女性在职场中应该享有平等的机会和待遇。
Nánxìng hé nǚxìng zài zhíchǎng zhōng yīnggāi xiǎngyǒu píngděng de jīhuì hé dàiyù.
Men and women should have equal opportunities and treatment in the workplace.
浙江男子铁锅里泡澡,底下还烧着火,一个接一个!...
zhè jiāng nán zǐ tiě guō lǐ pāo zǎo , de xià hái shāo zhe huǒ , yī gě jiē yī gě ! . . .
Zhejiang man in the iron pot bath, underneath the fire, one after another!...
冬奥会|冬季两项男子4X7.5公里接力:法国队逆转..
dōng ào huì dōng jì liǎng xiàng nán zǐ . gōng lǐ jiē lì fǎ guó duì nì zhuǎn . .
Winter Olympics | Biathlon Men's 4x7.5km Relay: France Stages Comeback...
冬奥会|冰壶男子循环赛:中国队不敌加拿大队
dōng ào huì bīng hú nán zǐ xún huán sài zhōng guó duì bù dí jiā ná dà duì
Winter Olympics | Men's Curling Round Robin: China Falls to Canada
...场与家人失散,5岁女童坠入路边深井大哭,男子..
. . . chǎng yú jiā rén shī sàn , suì nǚ tóng zhuì rù lù biān shēn jǐng dà kū , nán zǐ . .
...A 5-year-old girl separated from her family at the scene fell into a deep well by the roadside and began crying. A man...
英国男子打砸香港机场 包中还搜出疑似管制药品
yīng guó nán zǐ dǎ zá xiāng gǎng jī chǎng bāo zhōng hái sōu chū yí shì guǎn zhì yào pǐn
British man vandalizes Hong Kong airport; suspected controlled substances found in his bag
这个班有多少男生？
Zhège bān yǒu duōshao nánshēng?
How many boys are in this class?
喜欢男人，为什么还要和女人结婚？
Xǐhuan nánrén, wèishénme hái yào hé nǚrén jiéhūn?
Why would you marry a woman if you like men?
坐在角落的那个男人是谁？
Zuò zài jiǎoluò de nàge nánrén shì shéi?
Who is the man sitting in the corner?
在那边游泳的男孩是谁？
Zài nàbian yóuyǒng de nánhái shì shéi?
Who's the boy that's swimming over there?
Character Family
田 Radical Family — Characters sharing the field radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 男 (nán) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 男 and 母?
How many strokes does 男 have?
What is the radical of 男?
What are the components of 男?
What are common words containing 男?
What characters sound the same as 男 (nán)?
Is 男 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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