n.
female student; girl
女生
female student; girl
A girl, schoolgirl, or young female peer. Commonly used on campuses to refer to female classmates casually and politely.
Common Usage & Traps
- 一个女生 — a girl / a female student
- 女生宿舍 — girls' dormitory
- 追女生 — to pursue a girl / to court a girl
- 男生女生 — boys and girls
-
她是女她是女生 / 她是女的女 alone labels gender; it does not stand alone as the word for a girl or young woman.
-
一个男女生一个男生或一个女生男女生 means boys and girls as a group; you cannot put 一个 in front to make it one person.
Does 女生 mean 'girl' or 'female student'?
Both. Context decides whether age, gender, or student status is the point.
女生 usually means a young female, not only someone enrolled in school. In a classroom, it can mean female student; on the street, it just means girl or young woman. If you need to stress student status, say 女学生 or just 学生. Natives rarely stop to separate the two meanings.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| General young female | 那个女生是我朋友。 | 那个女人是我朋友。 |
| School context | 班里女生多。 | 班里女人多。 |
When should you say 女生 instead of 女人?
女生 is a young female; 女人 is an adult woman, often blunter.
Use 女生 for girls, teens, and young women, especially in casual or school contexts. 女人 points to a grown adult and can sound mature, serious, or even rude in the wrong tone. If you call a 20-year-old 女人, she may hear it as 'that older woman'. For a neutral adult female, many people still use 女士 in polite settings.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 那个女生二十岁。 | 那个女人二十岁。 |
| Tone | 女生说话很客气。 | 女人说话很客气。 |
| Polite address | 这位女士，请问... | 这位女人，请问... |
Why do people say 男生女生 instead of 男人女人?
男生/女生 is the fixed casual pair for boys and girls; 男人/女人 sounds adult.
男生 and 女生 work as a natural pair in classrooms, dorms, and everyday speech. You use 男人 and 女人 for adults, often with a stronger or more blunt tone. Replacing one side can break the parallel: 男生女人 sounds jarring. The story lines them up as a set, not as separate vocabulary words.
“女士和男士，
男生和女生，
先生和学生。” (Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Mr. and student.)
“女士和男士，
男生和女生，
先生和学生。” (Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Mr. and student.)
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Pair | 男生和女生 | 男人和女生 |
| School | 班里男生女生都来了。 | 班里男人女生都来了。 |
| Age | 这些男生女生都是大学生。 | 这些男人女人都是大学生。 |
Featured in Story Deep Dive
Follow how this word unfolds across the narrative arc of this graded story.
Before you read: this is a short rhyming poem. You will meet a doctor who asks about seeing and hearing. Try to spot words you already know!
- Scene #1
女士和男士，男生和 女生 ，先生和学生。
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