青年 qīngnián youth
youth; youthful years; young person; the young
How to remember 青年: 青 blue-green + 年 year = youth.
Characters
How it is used
- A more formal, collective noun for youth/young people than the everyday 年轻人.
- 青年节 (Youth Day), 共青团 (Communist Youth League), 青年作家 (young writer) - appears in official, institutional, and media contexts.
- 年轻人 is what you'd use in ordinary conversation about young people generally.
- 青年 often implies a social category or demographic, not just 'someone young.'
Example sentences
- 附近有没有青年旅舍？ Fùjìn yǒuméiyǒu qīngnián lǚshè?Is there a youth hostel near here?
- 该名青年将少女从流氓团伙中救了出来。 Gāimíng qīngnián jiāng shàonǚ cóng liúmángtuánhuǒ zhōngjiù le chūlái.The young man saved the girl from a bunch of hoodlums.