All About Chinese Prefixes and Suffixes

In this article, we are going to take a look at a very practical part of vocabulary-prefixes and suffixes. You might find it a little bit odd because prefixes and suffixes sound like an English concept. However, it does appear in Mandarin Chinese too. As a beginner, you may not pay much attention to it, but as you get further into your studies, you’ll learn that some characters add a specific meaning to certain words. For example, several words have the character 老 at the beginning, and some words have the same character 子 at the end. Yes, those are actually Chinese prefixes and suffixes. Similar to English, prefixes and suffixes not only give you a clue to the meaning of the word but also provide an easy and fast method to expand your vocabulary, not to mention the cultural elements related to them.

The formation of words is strongly linked to culture; it reflects the mindset of Chinese speakers. So here is a guide to several frequently-used prefixes and suffixes to help you explore this part of Chinese. We hope this guide will help your understanding of Chinese words and culture.

• Prefixes in Chinese
• Suffixes in Chinese

Prefixes in Chinese

In Chinese, prefixes are a grammatical element added to the beginning of a word, such as 老，小，阿, 第，and 初. These prefixes must be combined with other characters to form a word and can’t be used alone.

For clarity and convenient reading, a chart of prefixes is provided below.

Prefix in Chinese

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.）My 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

i. no meaning

老虎 (lǎo hǔ)  tiger

老鼠（lǎo shǔ）mouse

老鹰（lǎo yīnɡ）eagle

ii. respect

老师 (lǎoshī.)  teacher

老板（lǎobǎn）boss; shopkeeper

iii. amiable feeling

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

iv. seniority

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

i. no meaning

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

ii. affection

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!

阿 ā

* Original meaning and use:

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

* As a prefix in Chinese:

As a very common prefix, 阿is usually used as a greeting and indicates affection.

Rule：

Goes before numbers, monosyllabic family names, nicknames or relative nouns.

Structure：

阿 + number/monosyllabic family name/nickname/relative noun

• • • affection

阿四（ā sì）the fourth child；ranking fourth

阿六（ā liù）the sixth child；ranking sixth

阿王（ā wánɡ）Wang (family name)

阿武（ā wǔ）Wu (family name)

阿丽（ā lì）li (nickname)

阿姨（ā yí）antie; a calling to other woman with similar age as your mother

阿婆（ā pó）grandma; a calling to other elder woman

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

第一（dì yī）first

第二（dì èr）second

第十（dì shí）tenth

初 chū

* Original meaning and use:

初 means beginning or start. In modern Chinese, when 初 is used alone, it is usually a part of a fixed expression. Otherwise, it is part of a word.

e.g.

初来乍到（chū lái zhà dào）to be new here

他在学初级汉语。（Tā zài xué chūjí hànyǔ.）He is learning elementary Chinese.

我最初是想去北京的，最后却来了上海。

（Wǒ zuì chū shì xiǎnɡ qù Běijīnɡ de, zuì hòu què lái le Shànɡhǎi.）

At the beginning, I wanted to go to Beijing, however I came to Shanghai at last.

* As a prefix in Chinese:

As a prefix, 初is usually used to indicate sequence in Chinese lunar time.

Rule：

Goes before numbers less than or equal to ten.

Structure：

初 + number(≤10)

• • • sequence in Chinese lunar time

初一（chū yī）first day（lunar year）

初二（chū èr）second day (lunar year)

初十（chū shí）tenth day (lunar year)

Suffixes in Chinese

In modern Chinese, there are significantly more suffixes than prefixes, so, in this part, we will go over several important suffixes, such as 子, 儿，生，头，然，者，家，and 员, which will help you express a wide variety of ideas. These suffixes either show people’s affection, distinguish a group of people, or change the part of speech when added after other elements. So, let’s see how they work.

For clarity and convenient reading, a chart of suffixes is provided below.

Suffixes in Chinese

子 zi

* Original meaning and use:

In ancient Chinese, 子(zǐ) with third tone is an expression showing respect to honorable 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

i. noun +子

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

ii. verb+子

盖子 (gài zi) lid

iii. adjective+子

傻子 (shǎ zi) the fool

疯子 (fēnɡ zi) madman

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

i. noun+儿

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

ii. verb+儿

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 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

i. noun+头

木头 (mù tou) wood

石头 (shí tou) stone

骨头 (ɡǔ tou) bone

ii. verb+头

看头 (kàn tou) be worthy of watching

听头 (tīnɡ tou) be worthy of listening

念头 (niàn tou) idea; thought

iii. adjective+头

准头 (zhǔn tou) accuracy

甜头 (tián tou) sweet taste; benefit

然 rán

* Original meaning and use:

然originally functioned as an adjective meaning right or as a pronoun meaning such or this way.

e.g.

不以为然 (bù yǐ wéi rán) not to regard it as right

当然 (dānɡ rán) of course

然后 (rán hòu) then

* As a suffix in Chinese:

When used as a suffix, the original meaning of 然 doesn’t matter and it is used to describe a kind of state. It’s mainly used after another character to form an adverb, adjective or conjunction.

Rule：

Goes after a character to form an adverb, adjective or conjunction.

Structure：

a character + 然

i. form an adverb

忽然 (hū rán) suddenly

果然 (ɡuǒ rán) sure enough

恍然 (huǎnɡ rán) suddenly

ii. form an adjective

突然 (tū rán) sudden

显然 (xiǎn rán) obvious

iii. form a conjunction

既然 (jì rán) now that

虽然 (suī rán) even though

者 zhě

* Original meaning and use:

In ancient Chinese, 者 was used to refer to people or things with a certain featureafter another element. It is often used in Chinese poems or idioms.

e.g.

逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜。(Shì zhě rú sī fu, bù shě zhòu yè.)

How it flows on, never creasing, night and day!

知人者智，自知者明。(Zhī rén zhě zhì, zì zhī zhě mínɡ.)

He who knows others is learned, and he who knows himself is wise.

* As a suffix in Chinese:

When used as a suffix, 者 actually keeps the characteristic of referring to people with a certain feature to some degree but becomes more ambiguous. It is mainly applied as a noun suffix added after another morpheme.

Rule：

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

Structure：

verb/adjective/partial noun + 者

i. verb+者

读者 (dúzhě) reader  

作者 (zuòzhě) author

学者 (xuézhě) scholar

ii. adjective+者

患者 (huànzhě) patient

长者 (zhǎnɡzhě) eldership

伤者 (shānɡzhě) the wounded

iii. noun+者

笔者 (bǐzhě) writer

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

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

员 yuán

* Original meaning and use:

员 refers to people and can be used alone or combined with other words.

e.g.

你是我们队里的一员。 (Nǐ shì women duì lǐ de yì yuán.) You are a member of our team.

人员 (rén yuán) personnel

员工 (yuánɡōnɡ) staff

动员 (dònɡyuán) call forth

* As a suffix in Chinese:

As a nominal suffix, 员 can be put after an activity or group to indicate people who do that activity or are members of that group.

Rule：

Goes after a character for an activity or group.

Structure：

activity/group + 员

i. people engaged in activity

球员 (qiúyuán) player

演员 (yǎnyuán) actor

ii. people in a group

队员 (duìyuán) teammate

会员 (huìyuán) member

成员 (chénɡyuán) member

团员 (tuányuán) group member

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

• • • indicate plural

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

边 biān

* Original meaning and use:

边 (biān) with first tone refers to the edge, boundary, border or side.

e.g.

边缘 (biānyuán) edge

边疆 (biānjiānɡ) boundary

边界 (biānjiānɡ) border

等边三角形 (děnɡ biān sānjiǎoxínɡ) equilateral triangle

* As a suffix in Chinese:

边is a suffix attached to nouns that indicate location.

Rule：

Goes after after a location nouns.

Structure：

location noun+边

• • • adjunct to location noun

上边（shànɡbiɑn）upper

下边（xiàbiɑn） lower

左边（zuǒbiɑn）left

右边（yòubiɑn）right

外边（wàibiɑn）outside

里边（lǐbiɑn）inside

前边（qiánbiɑn）front

后边（hòubiɑn）back

东边（dōnɡbiɑn）east

西边（xībiɑn）west

北边（běibiɑn）north

南边（nánbiɑn）south

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