老人 lǎorén old man or woman
old man or woman; the elderly; one's aged parents or grandparents
How to remember 老人: 老 old + 人 person = old man or woman.
Characters
How it is used
- An elderly person, or the elderly collectively - 给老人让座 (gěi lǎorén ràng zuò) give up your seat to an elderly person.
- The politer term is 老人家 (lǎorénjia) when addressing/referring to an elder respectfully; on signs and forms you'll see 老年人 (lǎoniánrén). 老人 can also mean one's aged parents.
- 老 here is genuinely 'old/aged', not the affectionate prefix as in 老师 (lǎoshī) or 老板 (lǎobǎn).
Example sentences
- 老人坐了下来。 Lǎorén zuò le xiàlái.The old man sat down.
- 这个老人一只眼看不见了。 Zhège lǎorén yīzhī yǎnkàn bújiàn le.The old man is blind in one eye.
- 老人人口占总人口的百分之三十。 Lǎorén rénkǒu zhàn zǒng rénkǒu de bǎifēnzhī sān shí.Elderly people account for 30% of the total population.