公民 gōngmín citizen
How to remember 公民: 公 public + 民 citizens = citizen.
Characters
How it is used
- A citizen in the legal sense, with rights and duties - 公民权利 (gōngmín quánlì) civil rights; 中国公民 (Zhōngguó gōngmín) a Chinese citizen.
- Distinct from 人民 (rénmín, the people, political-collective), 居民 (jūmín, resident), and 市民 (shìmín, city dweller): 公民 is specifically the legal nationality status.
Example sentences
- 我是世界公民。 Wǒ shì shìjiè gōngmín.I'm a citizen of the world.