恩情

• Pinyin: ēn qíng
• Hanzi breakdown: 恩 = 因 (cause) + 心 (heart) — kindness arising from the heart; 情 = 忄(heart radical) + 青 (blue-green/youth/phonetic) — the feelings of the heart, emotion

Meaning

Profound kindness; deep favor; the emotional weight of gratitude toward someone who has helped or nurtured you.

恩情 is intensely personal and relational, describing lasting emotional indebtedness for parental sacrifice, mentorship, or rescue from hardship. Core to Confucian ethics of 报恩 (repaying kindness). Frequently collocates with 难以忘怀 (impossible to forget), 铭记在心 (engrave in the heart), and 报答 (to repay).

Examples

1. 父母含辛茹苦将他抚养成人，这份恩情令他终生难以忘怀。 His parents raised him through countless hardships, and he could never forget that kindness for the rest of his life.
2. 她在病榻上仍不忘提及当年邻居救助她一家的恩情，希望有朝一日能够亲自报答。 Even from her sickbed, she still spoke of the kindness a neighbor once showed by helping her family, hoping that one day she could repay it in person.
3. 老师对他的悉心培育之恩情，在他日后的事业发展中始终是一股不竭的精神力量。 The teacher’s devoted guidance was a deep kindness that remained an endless source of spiritual strength throughout his later career.

Usage Guide

Context: family, literature, ethics, social

Tone: sincere

Do Say

• 父母用毕生心血养育子女，这份深厚的恩情是任何物质回报都无法完全衡量与偿还的。(Parents devote their entire lives to raising their children, and this profound kindness is something that no material return can fully measure or repay.)
• 他永远铭记恩师在自己最迷茫的岁月中给予的引导与鼓励，视那段师生情谊为人生中最珍贵的恩情。(He will forever engrave in his heart the guidance and encouragement his mentor gave him during his most uncertain years, regarding that teacher-student bond as the most precious kindness he has received in life.)

Don't Say

• 这次活动的恩情让我很感动 — 恩情 is reserved for deep, personal, long-lasting gratitude between people with a close bond; it is inappropriate for a single event or casual interaction; say 这次活动让我深受感动 instead

Origin & History

恩 (grace/favor) + 情 (sentiment/emotion) — the deep emotional dimension of received kindness, creating a lasting bond of gratitude

Cultural Context

Era: Ancient to Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal