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民

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(bound form) the people; inhabitants of a country

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HSK 3.0
Level 3
Old HSK
Level 4
Strokes
5
Radical
氏 +1
Structure
Overlaid 叠加
Traditional
民
Common rank
#116
Unicode
U+6C11

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 民 is formed

Ideographic compound (会意字)

An eye 巳 pierced by a dagger 戈, an old mark of slavery

Components 巳 戈

How to remember it

people · Heisig RSH #1377

氏 family name + 口 mouth

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 民

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

WordPinyinMeaning
中国人民大学 Zhōng guó Rén mín Dà xué Renmin University of China
国民中学 guó mín zhōng xué junior high school (Tw); abbr. to 國中|国中[guo2 zhong1]
国民小学 guó mín xiǎo xué elementary school (Tw)
子民 zǐ mín people
三民区 Sān mín Qū Sanmin, a district of Kaohsiung City 高雄市[Gao1 xiong2 Shi4], Taiwan
人民 rén mín the people
利国利民 lì guó lì mín to benefit both the country and the people
国民 guó mín nationals; citizens; people of a nation
民国 Mín guó Republic of China (1912-1949); used in Taiwan as the name of the calendar era (e.g. 民國六十年|…
市民 shì mín city resident; townspeople
民心 mín xīn popular sentiment
民生 mín shēng people's livelihood; people's welfare
民族大学 Mín zú Dà xué University for Nationalities (university of ethnic studies)
新民市 Xīn mín Shì Xinmin, a county-level city in Shenyang City 瀋陽市|沈阳市[Shen3 yang2 Shi4], Liaoning
小民 xiǎo mín ordinary people; commoner; civilian
民主化 mín zhǔ huà to convert to democracy; democratic transformation
民家 mín jiā minka; commoner's house; Bai ethnic group
民生主义 mín shēng zhǔ yì principle of people's livelihood, the third of Dr Sun Yat-sen's 孫中山|孙中山 Three Principles o…
国民年金 Guó mín Nián jīn (Tw) National Pension, a social security scheme in Taiwan
多民族国家 duō mín zú guó jiā multiethnic state

Sound family

These characters use 民 as their sound component — compare how they read.

CharacterPinyinMeaning
民 sound part mín citizens, subjects; a nation's people
眠 mián sleep, shut-eye, hibernatation
泯 mǐn to destroy, to eliminate; to perish
抿 mǐn to press, to smooth; to purse the lips
岷 mín the Min mountains; the Min river
湣 mǐn confused, mixed; to pity
珉 mín alabaster; a jade-like stone
敃 mǐn robust, strong, vigorous
苠 mín number, multitude; bamboo skin