男 nán — man, male

Pinyin

• nán (second tone, rising)

man, male

Character breakdown

• 田meaning partA field divided by its paths. Dictionaries file the character here, under the field rather than under the plough.
• 力meaning partA plough, and so the strength put into pulling it.

Mnemonic

A field 田 with a plough 力 beneath it: the labour spent in the fields. Both halves mean what they show — neither is there for the sound — and the word covers 男人, 男孩 and 男朋友. The pair 男 / 女 on the doors of a public building is usually the first sign a learner reads without help.

A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.

Words containing 男

• 男nán (second tone, rising)male, man’s
• 男人nánrén (second tone, rising)man, adult male
• 男子nán (second tone, rising) zǐ (third tone, dipping)a man; a male
• 男生nán (second tone, rising) shēng (first tone, high and level)schoolboy
• 男性nán (second tone, rising) xìng (fourth tone, falling)the male sex
• 男朋友nán (second tone, rising) péng (second tone, rising) you (neutral tone)boyfriend
• 男女nán (second tone, rising) nǚ (third tone, dipping)male-female
• 男士nán (second tone, rising) shì (fourth tone, falling)man
• 男孩儿/男孩兒nán (second tone, rising) hái (second tone, rising) r (neutral tone)erhua variant of 男孩

Radical 田 — other characters

• 电/電diàn (fourth tone, falling)electricity; lightning; a telegram; to give an electric shock
• 田tián (second tone, rising)a field, cultivated land; Tian, a surname