jan4 jin1人煙人烟
Jyutpingjan4 jin1
Yaleyàhn yīn
Definition
Sign of human activity, referring to the population or number of households in a particular area.
writtenplacesdescriptions
How it's used
This term is almost exclusively used in the four character idiom 人煙稀少 to describe remote or desolate locations. It carries a slightly literary or formal tone, so it is rarely used in casual conversation to describe a crowded neighborhood. When you want to talk about a place being crowded or having many people, use words like 熱鬧 or 多人 instead.
Examples
There are very few people here, it is very quiet at night.
That hilltop has no signs of human activity, nobody goes there.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not use this word to describe the number of people in a room or a specific gathering, as it specifically refers to the presence of households or long term human settlement in a geographical area.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- QuestionsFrom yes or no questions to asking who, what, where, and when. The patterns you need to ask questions naturally in Cantonese.
- ClassifiersCantonese puts a classifier between a number and a noun, and a bare classifier on its own can mean the. Learn the common ones and how to use them.
- ComparisonsHow to say bigger than, the most, the same as, and not as good as. Cantonese uses 過 where Mandarin uses 比, and that catches a lot of learners out.
