How to Say "Boyfriend" in Chinese

男朋友

nánpéngyou

The Chinese word for boyfriend is 男朋友 (nánpéngyou). Wiktionary also lists 對象 / 对象 (duìxiàng).

Meaning: male partner in a romantic relationship (noun)

Ways to say it

“boyfriend” in Chinese
Chinese	Romanization (Wiktionary)
男朋友	nánpéngyou
對象 / 对象	duìxiàng

男朋友 is the standard and most common way to refer to a male partner in a romantic relationship. It can be used in both casual and formal settings.

The term 男朋友 is composed of 男 (male) and 朋友 (friend).

While 男朋友 specifically means 'boyfriend', the term 对象 (or 对象) is a more gender-neutral way to refer to a romantic partner or a 'significant other'.

nánpéngyou

While 男朋友 is standard, some couples use the slang 男票 (nán piào) in texts or social media to sound cute and trendy.
The word 对象 originally meant 'object' or 'target' in a general sense before it became a common term for a romantic partner.
Among younger generations, sometimes the term 男神 (nánshén), meaning 'male god', is used to describe an idealized or 'dream' boyfriend.

别告诉我的男朋友。
Don't tell my boyfriend.
This sentence is useful for learning how to use 男朋友 in a negative command.
Tatoeba #5574743 by verdastelo9604, translation #1849025 by Spamster
汤姆是我第一个男朋友。
Tom was my first boyfriend.
This sentence shows how to use 男朋友 to describe a past relationship.
Tatoeba #9012193 by jacintoo, translation #1140954 by CK
你有一个固定的男朋友吗？
Do you have a steady boyfriend?
This sentence demonstrates how to use 男朋友 when asking about a steady relationship.
Tatoeba #4147271 by sissima, translation #4145046 by danepo
这是我的男朋友。
This is my boyfriend.
她的男友是一名医生。
Her boyfriend is a doctor.
我和我的男票一起去旅行了。
I went on a trip with my boyfriend.
38 more sentences on Tatoeba

Yuting and Haoran are talking about a party.

雨婷 Yuting

你可以带你的男朋友一起去吗？
Nǐ kěyǐ dài nǐ de nánpéngyǒu yīqǐ qù ma?
Can you bring your boyfriend along?
浩然 Haoran

没问题，他也很想去。
Méi wèntí, tā yě hěn xiǎng qù.
No problem, he really wants to go too.
雨婷 Yuting

太好了，我很想见见他。
Tài hǎole, wǒ hěn xiǎng jiànjiàn tā.
Great, I would love to meet him.
浩然 Haoran

他肯定会很高兴认识你的。
Tā kěndìng huì hěn gāoxìng rènshí nǐ de.
He will definitely be happy to meet you.

Sources

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