Prefixes and Suffixes – 前缀 后缀

Prefixes in Chinese – 前缀

老 (lǎo)

* Original meaning and use:

As an adjective, 老 means old or elder and can be used as a predicate in a sentence or to describe other elements.

e.g.

爸爸妈妈老了。（Bàbɑ māmɑ lǎo le.）Parents are old.

老人 (lǎo rén) old man

老奶奶 (lǎo nǎinɑi) old woman

* As a prefix in Chinese:

老is a dummy prefix. In a word, it either has no meaning or indicates respect, an amiable feeling or seniority among a group of people.

Rule：

Goes before animal names, people, monosyllabic family names or numbers.

 

Structure：

老 + animal name/person/monosyllabic family name/number

 

1. no meaning

e.g.

老虎 (lǎo hǔ)  tiger

老鼠（lǎo shǔ）mouse

老鹰（lǎo yīnɡ）eagle

2. respect

e.g.

老师 (lǎoshī.)  teacher

老板（lǎobǎn）boss; shopkeeper

3. amiable feeling

e.g.

老张啊，好久不见！(Lǎo zhānɡ a, hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn!) Zhang, long time no see!

老公（lǎoɡōnɡ）husband

老婆（lǎopó）wife

4. seniority

e.g.

老大（lǎo dà）big brother； big cheese

老二（lǎo’èr）the second child； ranking second

老三（lǎo sān）the third child; ranking third

小 (xiǎo)

* Original meaning and use:

As an adjective, 小 means young or small and can be used as a predicate in a sentence or to describe other elements.

e.g.

这件衣服太小了。（Zhè jiàn yīfu tài xiǎo le.）This clothes is too small.

小朋友 (xiǎo pénɡyou) little boy or girl

小孩子 (xiǎo háizi) little child

* As a prefix in Chinese:

小 is also a dummy prefix. In a word, it either shows no meaning or affection. When indicating affection, it is usually used by a senior towards their subordinates or by an elder towards younger people.

Rule：

Goes before people, adjectives or monosyllabic family names.

 

Structure：

小 + person/monosyllabic family name/other elements

 

1. no meaning

e.g.

小姐（xiǎo jiě）Miss

小心（xiǎo xīn）to be careful

小丑（xiǎo chǒu）Joker; clown

小住（xiǎo zhù）to live for a while

小气（xiǎo qi）to be mean

2. affection

e.g.

小李，帮我打印一下。（Xiǎo Lǐ, bānɡ wǒ dǎyìn yí xià.）Lee, help me to print it.

小贺啊，回来啦！(Xiǎo Hè ā, huí lái lā!) He, you’re back!

 

第 (dì)

* Original meaning and use:

第 is usually combined with other elements to form a word. By itself, 第  doesn’t mean anything.

 

* As a prefix in Chinese:

As a prefix, 第is usually used to indicate order.

 

Rule：

Goes before an integer.

 

Structure：

第 + integer

 

Ordinal number

e.g.

第一（dì yī）first

第二（dì èr）second

第十（dì shí）tenth

Suffixes in Chinese – 后缀

儿 (ér)

* Original meaning and use:

儿 originally meant son in Chinese and can be used alone or combined with other words.

e.g.

儿啊，你终于回来了。（Ér a, nǐ zhōnɡyú huílái le.）Oh my son, you finally back.

儿孙自有儿孙福。(Ér sūn zì yǒu ér sūn fú.) The children can take care of themselves when they grow up.

儿女双全 (Ér nǚ shuānɡ quán) with son and daughter

* As a suffix in Chinese:

As a common suffix, 儿（written as ‘r’ in pinyin）is only a grammatical particle. It mainly functions as a nominal suffix added after other characters.

Rule：

goes after a partial noun or verb to form a noun.

 

Structure：

nominal morpheme/verbal morpheme + 儿

 

1. noun+儿

e.g.

花儿 (huā’r) flower

盆儿 (pén’r) pot

棍儿 (ɡùn’r) stick

车儿 (chē’r) car

事儿 (shì’r) thing

女儿 (nǚ’r) daughter

2. verb+儿

e.g.

画儿 (huà’r) painting

卷儿 (juǎn’r) curve

盖儿 (ɡài’r) lid

头 (tou)

* Original meaning and use:

As a noun, 头 (tóu) means head. It can be used alone or combined with other words.

e.g.

你的头怎么了？(Nǐ de tóu zěnme le?) What’s wrong with your head?

我头疼。(Wǒ tóu ténɡ.) I have a headache.

头发 (tóufɑ) hair

* As a suffix in Chinese:

As a suffix, 头(tou) is pronounced with a neutral tone. The ancient meaning of head has been obscured. It mainly functions as a nominal suffix, added after another character.

Rule：

Goes after a partial noun, verb, or adjective to make it into a noun.

 

Structure：

Partial noun/verb/adjective + 头

 

1. noun+头

e.g.

木头 (mù tou) wood

石头 (shí tou) stone

骨头 (ɡǔ tou) bone

2. verb+头

e.g.

看头 (kàn tou) be worthy of watching

听头 (tīnɡ tou) be worthy of listening

念头 (niàn tou) idea; thought

3. adjective+头

e.g.

准头 (zhǔn tou) accuracy

甜头 (tián tou) sweet taste; benefit

子 (zi)

* Original meaning and use:

In ancient Chinese, 子(zǐ) with a third tone is an expression showing respect to honourable people.

e.g.

孔子（Kǒnɡ zǐ）Confucius, a Chinese philosopher

荀子（Xún zǐ）Xunzi, a Chinese philosopher

老子（Lǎo zǐ）Laozi, a Chinese philosopher

孟子（Mènɡ zǐ）Mengzi, a Chinese philosopher

* As a suffix in Chinese:

A very common suffix, 子（zi）pronounced with neutral tone is only a grammatical particle in modern Chinese. It is always used as a nominal suffix, added after another character.

Rule：

Goes after a partial noun, verb, or adjective to make it into a noun

 

Structure：

Partial noun/verb/adjective + 子

 

1. noun +子

e.g.

桌子 (zhuō zi) desk; table

椅子 (yǐ zi) chair

凳子 (dènɡ zi) stool

杯子 (bēi zi) cup

筷子 (kuài zi) chopsticks

本子 (běn zi) notebook

箱子 (xiānɡ zi) box

盒子 (hé zi) case; box

橙子 (chénɡ zi) orange

橘子 (jú zi) tangerine

桃子 (táo zi) peach

儿子 (ér zi) sun

沙子 (shā zi) sand

2. verb+子

e.g.

盖子 (gài zi) lid

3. adjective+子

e.g.

傻子 (shǎ zi) the fool

疯子 (fēnɡ zi) madman

家 (jiā)

* Original meaning and use:

In modern Chinese, 家 means family or home. It can be used alone or combined with other words.

e.g.

这是我家。(Zhè shì wǒ jiā.) This is home.

家人 (jiā rén) family

家庭 (jiā tínɡ) household

* As a suffix in Chinese:

As a nominal suffix, 家 can be put after activities to indicate people engaged in that activity.

Rule：

Goes after an activity.

 

Structure：

activity + 家

 

People engaged in some field of activity

e.g.

画家 (huàjiā) painter

科学家 (kēxuéjiā) scientist

天文学家 (tiānwénxuéjiā) astronomer

作家 (zuòjiā) writer

小说家 (xiǎoshuōjiā) fictionist

数学家 (shùxuéjiā) mathematian

们 (men)

* Original meaning and use:

们 usually needs to be combined with other elements to form a word. By itself, 们 doesn’t mean anything.

 

* As a suffix in Chinese:

As a suffix, 们 is mainly put after nouns or pronouns to indicate pluralization.

 

Rule：

Goes after a noun or pronoun to make it plural.

 

Structure：

noun/pronoun + 们

 

To indicate plural

e.g.

我们 (wǒmen) we; us

你们 (nǐmen) you

他们 (tāmen) they; them

她们 (tāmen) they; them

它们 (tāmen) they; them

人们 (rénmen) people

歌手们 (ɡēshǒumen) singers

志愿者们 (zhìyuànzhěmen) volunteers