おんな

woman, female

JLPT N5

Character Breakdown

Basic Meaning

The character (nǚ) primarily means "woman" or "female." It is used to refer to adult women, girls, or the female gender in general.

Usage in Daily Life

You will often see used in words related to females, such as (girl), 女朋友 (girlfriend), and 员工 (female employee). It can stand alone as a noun or be part of compound words.

Common Collocations

  • 孩子 (nǚ háizi): girl, often used to refer to a young female child.
  • 女朋友 (nǚ péngyǒu): girlfriend, a common term in relationships.
  • 员工 (nǚ yuángōng): female employee, used in workplace contexts.

Nuances and Tips

When is used alone, it usually refers to a female person but can be vague without context. It is often combined with other characters to specify age, relationship, or role.

Avoid confusing with (nán), which means "male." Also, is a common radical in many characters related to women or femininity, so recognizing it helps in learning related vocabulary.

Example Sentences

She is a very smart girl.

This company has many female employees.

My girlfriend came to my house today.