gōng rén
(manual) worker; labourer
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他是工人。
Tā shì gōngrén.
He is a worker.
她在工厂工作。
Tā zài gōngchǎng gōngzuò.
She works in a factory.
工人正在盖房子。
Gōngrén zhèngzài gài fángzi.
The workers are building a house.
劳工 (láogōng)
laborer
职工 (zhígōng)
employee
工人阶级 (gōngrén jiěji)
working class
老板 (lǎobǎn)
boss
经理 (jīnglǐ)
manager
The Chinese word 工人 (gōngrén) for "worker" is composed of two characters: 工 (gōng) and 人 (rén). The character 工 originally meant "work" or "labor," and it is often used in words related to work, such as 工作 (gōngzuò) "work" and 工厂 (gōngchǎng) "factory." The character 人 simply means "person." When these two characters are combined, they form the word 工人, which literally means "work person" or "working person." This term is used to refer to people who engage in manual labor or other types of work for a living.
