犹太人
Yóutàirén
The English phrase "jewish" is expressed in Mandarin as 犹太人 (Yóutàirén).
The term is used to describe or relate to a Jew or Jews, including their ethnicity, religion or culture.
Meaning: of or relating to a Jew or Jews, their ethnicity, religion or culture (adj)
Which one should you use?
Use 犹太人 to refer to the people, but use 犹太教 when specifically referring to the religion of Judaism.
How do you pronounce it?
Yóutàirén
Did you know?
- The word 犹太 in 犹太人 is a phonetic transliteration of 'Judah' rather than a translation of the concept of 'Jewish'. This is why it sounds similar to the English word 'Jew' despite being written with Chinese characters.
- Because 犹太人 is a transliteration, the characters have no inherent meaning regarding the culture. This differs from terms like 美国人 ('American'), where 美 ('beautiful') was intentionally chosen to describe the country.
- The character 犹 (yóu) in 犹太 is also a common Chinese word meaning 'as if' or 'yet', though it has lost that meaning within this specific name.
Examples in context
- 我是犹太人吗？Am I Jewish?This sentence is useful for asking if one is Jewish.Tatoeba #12253524 by avi1000, translation #5431339 by deyta
- 汤姆不是犹太人。Tom isn't Jewish.This sentence is useful for stating that Tom is not Jewish.Tatoeba #8857259 by iiujik, translation #5758122 by CM
- 我是犹太人I'm Jewish.This sentence is useful for stating that one is Jewish.Tatoeba #12253528 by avi1000, translation #9976998 by shekitten
- 我很喜欢犹太文化I really like Jewish culture.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are discussing the origin of a famous scientist.
- 佳怡 Jiayi爱因斯坦是犹太人吗？Àiyīnsītǎn shì Yóutàirén ma?Was Einstein Jewish?
- 志强 Zhiqiang是的，他是犹太人。Shì de, tā shì Yóutàirén.Yes, he was Jewish.
- 佳怡 Jiayi我也想了解犹太人文化。Wǒ yě xiǎng liǎojiě Yóutàirén wénhuà.I want to learn about Jewish culture too.
- 志强 Zhiqiang我们可以一起去图书馆看书。Wǒmen kěyǐ yīqǐ qù túshūguǎn kànshū.We can go to the library to read books together.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
