客人
guest; visitor
kèrén
What does 客人 mean?
客人 (kèrén) is the noun for 'guest' — anyone visiting your home, your event, or your business. It covers two overlapping senses: (1) a social guest at your home or a party (我家来了几位客人 = a few guests came to my home), and (2) a customer / patron at a restaurant, hotel, or shop (这位客人想点菜 = this customer wants to order). For the customer sense, 顾客 (gùkè) is more common in retail and formal business contexts; 客人 is friendlier and used in restaurants, salons, and hospitality.
The opposite, the host, is 主人 (zhǔrén). Chinese culture places strong importance on hospitality — 招待客人 (zhāodài kèrén, hosting guests) is treated as a serious responsibility, and you'll often hear 客人 used with hospitality verbs like 招待, 请, 接待.
Note: Neutral. Covers guests in a home and customers in a business (shops, restaurants, hotels). In modern Chinese, 顾客 (gùkè)
Character breakdown
guest; visitor; passenger
person
Memory hook: 客 ('guest') + 人 ('person') — the guest-person. Straightforward.
Measure word for 客人
Example sentences
今天晚上我家有客人。
Jīntiān wǎnshang wǒ jiā yǒu kèrén.
There will be guests at my place tonight.
spoken
请问，这位客人是谁？
Qǐng wèn, zhè wèi kèrén shì shéi?
Excuse me, who is this guest?
polite
妈妈在厨房做菜招待客人。
Māma zài chúfáng zuò cài zhāodài kèrén.
Mom is in the kitchen cooking to host the guests.
neutral
服务员，这位客人要点菜。
Fúwùyuán, zhè wèi kèrén yào diǎn cài.
Waiter, this customer would like to order.
spoken, polite
客人来了，快开门。
Kèrén lái le, kuài kāi mén.
The guests are here, hurry and open the door.
spoken
Common phrases with 客人
Synonyms
顾客 specifically means 'customer / patron' in a retail or service business context. 客人 is broader and warmer — it works for both social guests and customers. Stores and ads usually use 顾客; restaurants and hotels often use 客人.
宾客 is a formal / written term for 'guests,' often used for wedding guests, banquet attendees, or VIPs in printed invitations. 客人 is the everyday word.
客户 means 'client' in a B2B / professional services sense (a law firm's client, a designer's client). 客人 is more about in-person visiting; 客户 is about an ongoing business relationship.
Don't confuse 客人 with
可爱 means 'cute.' Both start with 'k-' but completely different — 客人 is a noun for a person, 可爱 is an adjective.
课 means 'class / lesson.' Same pronunciation as 客 but different character. 上课 = attend class, 客人 = guest.
客气 means 'polite / formal / standing on ceremony' (不客气 = you're welcome). Same 客