Where 男 comes from
Someone who can work 力 the farm 田
How to write 男 (nán, “male”)
男 (nán), an HSK 1 character, means “male” and “baron”. It is a character whose parts combine into its meaning. On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 男朋友 (“boyfriend”), 男人 (“a man”) and 男生 (“schoolboy”). Japanese reads it dan, “male”, as a JLPT N5 kanji.
- Pinyin
- nán
- Strokes
- 7
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 田 (“field”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
As a top-bottom character it splits into 田 (“field”, the radical), strokes 1–5; 力 (“power”), strokes 6–7, written the top first.
- top leftdownwards
- top leftrightwards → downwards
- toprightwards
- topdownwards
- centerrightwards
- leftrightwards → downwards
- centerdown and left
Japanese and Chinese
The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (7 strokes in Japanese, 7 strokes in Chinese).
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| nán second tone | (bound form) male; baron, the lowest of the five ranks of nobility 五等爵位 (wǔděngjuéwèi) | — | 男朋友 男人 男生 男士 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 2 word
- Words with it
- 100 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 男
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 男 | nán | male; baron, the lowest of the five ranks of nobility 五等爵位… HSK 1 |
| 男朋友 | nánpéngyou | boyfriend HSK 1 |
| 男人 | nánrén | a man; a male HSK 3 |
| 男生 | nánshēng | schoolboy; male student HSK 3 |
| 男士 | nánshì | man; gentleman HSK 4 |
| 男子 | nánzǐ | a man; a male HSK 5 |
| 男方 | nánfāng | the bridegroom's side; the husband's side HSK 7-9 |
| 少男 | shàonán | young, unmarried male; young guy |
| 男儿 男兒 | nánér | a (real) man; boy |
| 男友 | nányǒu | boyfriend |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Keep going
HSK 1, in list order: