Language/Mandarin-chinese/Grammar/Describing-People-with-Suffixes-家-者-师-员-生-手

Describing People with Chinese Suffixes:
家， 者， 师， 员， 生 & 手 

你好 Chinese Learners! 😃

➡ In today's lesson, you will learn how to use the 家， 者， 师， 员， 生 and 手 Chinese suffixes.

I'm sure you've wondered about Chinese suffixes before: 

• Why are there so many suffixes for people in Mandarin? 

For example, why can we say 钢琴家 (it means pianist) but not 吉他家 to talk about a guitarist (吉他手)? 

• What is the difference between the Chinese suffixes 家 and 手? 

The answer is that each suffix has a specific area of ​​use. 

There are rules and exceptions. 

Therefore you cannot choose the one you want. 

In this lesson, I'll show you how each suffix works.

➡ It will not only allow you to express yourself better orally but you will also be able to guess the level of expertise of the person simply from his title!  

The suffix 生

The Chinese suffix 生 allows to designate people who are studying or who are engaged in activities related to their studies; 

• For example, the word 学生 (student).

学 which is the verb "to study" and 生 the suffix which allows to transform the verb to study into the noun "student". 

• Another example is the word 实习生 (intern).

If we break this word down we find the word "internship" and the suffixe for persons. It becomes the word "intern".

As you see, the suffix 生 is not just for students but for anyone who is learning something. 

Beware, there are still some exceptions such as: 

• 先生 (Mister) and 医生 (Doctor) 

1. In 先生, the character 生 does not play the role of suffix. It is just part of the word sir. 
2. In 医生, the character 生 has nothing to do with studying something even if in medicine you have to study a lot, in fact it is an integral part of the word doctor. 

The suffix 师

The suffix 师 which can have 2 meanings in Chinese. 

The first is to designate either a teacher or a tutor, someone basically who passes on his knowledge. For example you necessarily know the word:

• 老师 (teacher) 

The suffix 师, has the connotation of "I am master in a field and you owe me respect".

This is the reason why in China when you talk to your teacher, unlike in France where you say sir or in the United States or you call teachers by their first names, in China you have to address the teacher, by saying 老师 since there is this dimension of respect brought by the character 师. 

Another example is: 

导师 (academic tutor)

This word means an academic tutor, such as a thesis director in the event that you are doing a doctorate. Likewise, it is the idea of ​​someone who will guide you in your studies and who will teach you their knowledge. 

The suffix 师, has a second meaning: a professional with a high level of qualification in a particular field such as for example:

• 工程师 (engineer) or 建筑师 (architect)

These 2 professions have this idea of ​​technical mastery in a particular field. There is also this dimension of respect which is included in the character 师, a little as if the architects or the engineers had to be respected at the the same as a teacher. 

Moreover, it is common when you are an engineer or architect to train other people, such as interns, because like the professor or the academic tutor, you also have certain knowledge. 

This is also the reason why, when you want to talk to a professional in China, like a taxi driver for example, a very informal way to address him is by saying: 

• 师傅 

In 师傅 we also find the character 师. It's a respectful way of addressing a professional with respect.  

Therefore, when you talk to a bus driver, a taxi driver, or even a convenience store, in short any professional who helps you, you can address him by saying 师傅. 

The suffix 员

The Chinese suffix 员 also describes a professional, but this time in a sense of "being part of an organization or a crew". 

It's a bit like "staff" in English, meaning "a person who is part of a team". 

This is also the suffix in the word 服务员 (waiter).

服务 means "service" and 员 is the suffix "part of an organization". That's the word to shout in a Chinese restaurant if you want someone to come and serve you. 

You will also find this suffix in the word 

• 飞行员 (airplane pilot)

An airplane pilot is part of a crew along with the hostesses, the air traffic controllers etc…. 

The suffix 家

Then we continue with the Chinese suffix 家 which means "professional" but it is professional in the sense of "expert" ie one who has reached an expert level to the point of receiving the admiration and respect of his peers . 

It is a very formal suffix and it takes a long academic time to get to this level of expertise. So not all professions can receive the title of 家 !

There are, for example, professions like:

• 科学家 (scientist) or even 数学家 (mathematicians)

Who mean scientist or mathematicians. Unlike the suffix 师, 家 the person reaches a level above mastery. Because scientists or mathematicians have often been much more educated than engineers or even architects.

Scientists or mathematicians in the eyes of the Chinese, are professions that arouse admiration. Not everyone can become a scientist or a mathematician.

Moreover, often the artistic professions will also take the suffix 家 such as for example:

• 钢琴家 (pianist) or 艺术家 (artist)

This is the reason why you cannot use the Chinese suffix 家 to refer to yourself. If you are a pianist, you cannot introduce yourself by saying I "钢琴家" because In China, modesty is very important.

Beware of 2 important exceptions with 家.

The first is the word 国家 (country) and the second is 人家 (to be engaged with someone, to have a wife or a husband).

The suffix 手

The Chinese suffix 手 which basically describes all the professions in which you cannot put the suffixes that we saw just before.

For example if you are a guitarist, even obviously the guitar is much cooler than the piano, and in Chinese it will be said:

• 吉他手

You see in China a guitarist is not considered at the same level of prestige as a pianist, so you are not allowed to use the suffix 家. I know it's not fair but it's like that.

Same for singers, they are not allowed to use the suffix 家, and suddenly you will say:

• 歌手

Besides, the character 手 means "hand". It is used for professions related to your hability to use your hand(s) such as:

• 拳击手 (a boxer)

The suffix 者

This is the most difficult to use because of its many different uses.

The first use is to designate professions that convey a message or an opinion, for example:

• 笔者 (writers) or 记者 (journalist).

These professions convey an opinion, a message.

The second meaning is to designate a group of people who share a common characteristic such as: 

受害者 (a victim).

受害 means "to be the victim of something". If you add the Chinese suffixes 者, you mean a category of person who shares this characteristic, so "a victim".

Similarily with the word:

• 消费者 (a consumer)

You see here we have attached the suffix 者 to the word 消费 which means consumption. So we transformed the word consumption into a type of person who shares the characteristic of consuming, that is to say consumers.

Therefore, this suffix has a very broad spectrum of uses because you can hang it on lots of names or to turn them into a group of people who share common characteristics. 

Here is a little tips: you can take an adjective and add the suffix 主义 meaning "ideology". 

For example, the following adjective:

• 完美 (perfect) 

By adding the suffix 主义, it becomes: 

• 完美主义 (perfectionism)

Then if you add the suffix 者, you get: 

• 完美主义者 (perfectionists), ie a group of people who share the characteristic of perfectionism.

Do you see the logic? 

Another example: 

• 乐观 (optimist)
• 乐观主义 (optimism)
• 乐观主义者  (optimists)

Isn't that cool? You can really form lots of new Chinese words like this by playing around with the Chinese suffixes to switch from an adjective to a noun. 🤩

Sources

• French version: https://chinoistips.com