人数

• Pinyin: rén shù
• Hanzi breakdown: 人 = pictograph of a standing person; 数 = 娄 (phonetic) + 攵 (strike) — originally meaning to count

Meaning

The number of people; headcount. Refers to a specific count of individuals in a group.

Used when talking about how many people are in a group, event, or place. More concrete than 人口 (population), which is used at a macro level. Common in contexts like 参加人数 (number of participants), 学生人数 (number of students), and 限制人数 (limit the number of people).

Examples

1. 参加活动的人数很多。 A lot of people are participating in the event.
2. 请统计一下班上的人数。 Please count the number of students in the class.
3. 这次考试的人数比上次少。 The number of people taking this exam is fewer than last time.

Usage Guide

Context: events, school, statistics

Tone: informational

Do Say

• 报名人数已经超过一百了。(The number of sign-ups has already exceeded one hundred.)
• 每个班的人数不一样。(The number of students in each class is different.)

Don't Say

• 不要把人数和人口混用 (Don't confuse 人数 with 人口 — 人数 is for a specific headcount of a group; 人口 is for the population of a region)

Origin & History

人 (rén, person) + 数 (shù, number/count). A straightforward compound meaning the number of persons.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal