男性、男人、男子、男的、男生 (and 女性、女人、女子、女的、女生)

[tooironic]

Can anyone elaborate on how 男性、男人、男子、男的、男生 differ in modern usage?

I imagine it's much the same for 女性、女人、女子、女的、女生.

My understanding is:

• 男性 and 女性：Extremely formal.
  
• 男人 and 女人：Relatively formal, and can be derogatory.
  
• 男子 and 女子：Same as 男人 and 女人?
  
• 男的 and 女的：Colloquial. Usually not in the dictionary.
  
• 男生 and 女生：Informal - or neutral?
  

I'm still unclear on the deeper nuances. This causes me to hesitate a bit when interpreting from English.

Thanks.

[andysun731]

• 男性 and 女性：male / female
  
• 男人 and 女人：man / woman
  
• 男子 and 女子：usually seen in sports in modern usage, e.g. 男子110米栏，女子400米混合泳
  
• 男的 and 女的：Colloquial. male / female
  
• 男生 and 女生：boy / girl
  

[crystal123]

男性，女性 泛指所有年龄段的男，女，一般用在书面语中

男性，女性：male/female, all ages,it is restricted to literary contexts

男子，女子一般指年青男性和女性

男子，女子：young male/female,from 18 ages to 35 ages,it is often restricted to literary contexts.

男的，女的 指所有年龄段男，女，用在口语中

男的，女的：male/female,all ages,it is restricted to oral contexts,it is neutral terms.

[WestTexas]

男人/女人 have always seemed like the neutral and most common terms to me. 男生/女生 refer to young people (though not sure what exactly the difference between these and 女孩儿/男孩儿 is). 男的/女的, I'm not sure how to explain the grammar on this.It's an abbreviated form that's used to refer to something that is of men or women. Someone can give a more technical explanation. Just an example, if I go to a store and want to know if a shirt is for men or women, I'd ask “这件衬衫是男的还是女的?"

[tooironic]

@andysun731: To be clear, I didn't mean 男性 as in the male sex, I meant 男性 as a countable noun. As crystal123 confirms, it seems to be restricted to literary/formal contexts.

@WestTexas: Again, I'm talking about 男的 and 女的 as countable nouns, not adjectives. Whether 男人/女人 are the most neutral terms remains to be seen.

[crystal123]

男子，女子一般用在书面语中，口语用的少

男子，女子 It is often uses in literary contexts,also uses in oral contexts.

男生，女生书面，口语都可以使用。

男生，女生：It is uses in literary contexts and oral contexts.

[Benjamin Tan]

Based on how my experience with them,

男/女性 - male/female, generally seen in application forms (e.g. 性：男/女)

男/女人 - usually used to describe the general male/female population (e.g. “男人怎么都是这样的？”="Why are men always like this?")

男/女子 - man/woman (e.g. “那里坐着一位女子”="There's a woman sitting over there.")

男/女的·- adjective for male/female

男/女生 - man/woman, similar to 男/女子. Usually for younger people like youths.

There's also 男/女士, which is similar to 男/女子 too.

[tooironic]

Benjamin you may wish to read my post at #5. I'm talking about nouns not adjective forms.

[imron]

re 男生 I always thought it's meaning was 男性学生 and a quick look in my dictionary seems to confirm this.

P.S. you've forgotten 男士 and 女士.

[crystal123]

男生本意是男性学生，但是在现代汉语口语中，可以称呼未婚年青男性为男生。女生也是一样。

男士和女士就相当于英语的gentleman&lady，是非常正式的称呼，用在正式的场合。

而男性和女性，男子和女子是不能用在称呼里的。

我这样解释，不知道够不够明白？

[Kenny同志]

I always thought it's meaning was 男性学生 and a quick look in my dictionary seems to confirm this.

Haha, how about 小生 and 晚生? I am afraid that 生 doesn't always mean 学生.

[imron]

@kenny, I realise 生 doesn't always mean student, another example is 服务生.

[tooironic]

Thanks crystal123 that's an extremely clear explanation.

My C-C dictionary also confirms that 男生/女生 is not confined to just 学生. It says 男性学生；也指某些集体里的男性青年.

[lingo-ling]

Here's my take:

• 男性 and 女性： Formal, but not necessarily exceedingly so. Often found in written newspaper/magazine articles and in college students' essays. If the context allows, it can be translated as "male" or "female" (noun forms, as in "She was a single female in her 40s").
  
• 男人 and 女人： Neutral, standard term.
  
• 男子 and 女子： Neutral, but more suited to young adults.
  
• 男的 and 女的： Colloquial.
  
• 男生 and 女生： Informal; used in everyday speech and informal writing.