Home › Chinese › Glossary › stranger
Chinese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "stranger" in Chinese?
陌生人
mò shēng rén
In Chinese, "stranger" is 陌生人 (mò shēng rén).
Listen to the pronunciation:
Free Chinese learning game. No sign-up, play in browser. See all games
Pronunciation
Read it out as "mò shēng rén", "mò" is falling fast and sharp, like a command (tone 4); "shēng" is flat and level, held steady (tone 1), and finally "rén" is rising sharply like a question (tone 2).
Writing and usage
陌生人 is written using hanzi. It's a noun, part of the vocabulary taught in the Noun Town language learning game.
Example sentence
一位友善的陌生人帮我找到了车站。
yī wèi yǒu shàn de mò shēng rén bāng wǒ zhǎo dào le chē zhàn 。
A friendly stranger helped me find the station.
Test your Chinese knowledge in our free browser games.
How to remember 陌生人
Notice how "mò shēng rén" rolls off the tongue, and tie that feeling to a quick mental picture of "陌生人" (mò shēng rén).
Related words
- grandfather 祖父
- grandmother 祖母
- uncle 叔叔
- aunt 阿姨
- nephew 侄子
- niece 侄女
- cousin 表亲
- stepfather 继父
- stepmother 继母
Browse all Chinese words in the glossary.
Questions about 陌生人
How do you pronounce 陌生人?
Read it out as "mò shēng rén", "mò" is falling fast and sharp, like a command (tone 4); "shēng" is flat and level, held steady (tone 1), and finally "rén" is rising sharply like a question (tone 2).
Is 陌生人 formal or casual?
陌生人 is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech.
How is 陌生人 used in Chinese?
陌生人 is used the same way as the equivalent English noun. For example: 一位友善的陌生人帮我找到了车站。 (A friendly stranger helped me find the station.).
Where can I practice Chinese words for free?
You can play free Chinese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, no sign-up required. Every word in the Chinese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.
"Stranger" in other languages
Curated by Callan Ratcliffe
This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Chinese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.
Noun Town on PC, Mac & VR
These browser games are just a taste. The full Noun Town is a bigger, deeper 3D world: explore a living town, talk to its characters and learn thousands of words in immersive VR, Mixed Reality, or on your computer. It's an award-winning game with 590+ reviews on Steam and 12 languages to learn.
See the full game ▶Spot an error? Email us at contact@noun.town