员 yuán
“person; employee; member”
measure word, noun2021 list level 3Traditional 員
新HSK等级2025 HSK 3.0 syllabus level
员 appears in the November 2025 exam syllabus in the following numbered entry. Levels refer to the listed reading and use, not every meaning.
- Entry 956: 员 yuán — Level 3; official annotation 3 (后缀). PDF page 103
Separate from the HSK 2.0 and 2021 list labels above. Compare the three lists.
用法How to use 员
员 (yuán) is a suffix meaning "person who does a job; member; staff". It attaches to a word describing the job or role to form a noun: 服务员 (waiter), 运动员 (athlete), 售票员 (ticket seller), 职员 (office worker). It is not used on its own as a free noun in everyday speech.
例句Example sentences
- 这家餐厅的服务员非常客气。zhè jiā cān tīng de fú wù yuán fēi cháng kè qi.The waiters in this restaurant are very polite.
- 我姐姐是一名运动员。wǒ jiě jie shì yì míng yùn dòng yuán.My older sister is an athlete.
- 车上人很多，售票员忙得不得了。chē shàng rén hěn duō, shòu piào yuán máng de bù de liǎo.There were many people on the bus, and the ticket seller was extremely busy.
易混词Easily confused
员vs人员
人员 is a collective noun for personnel/staff as a group (工作人员、服务人员), often used in general or formal statements; 员 is a suffix forming a noun for one role (服务员、运动员). For counting individuals, 员-compounds are more usual: 一名服务员, 两名运动员.