Skip to content
Chinese Copilot

老lǎoold (of people)

HSK 3word

By Chinese Copilot · Last updated

老 (lǎo) means "old (of people)," as in 我爷爷老了 (My grandpa has gotten old), and "always" or "all the time," as in 他老是迟到 (He's always late) and 她老说这个 (She says this all the time). This entry covers these two senses, each shown with its own examples below.

What does 老 mean?

  1. 1.

    old (of people)adjective

  2. 2.

    always; all the timeadverb

What does the character 老 mean?

  • 老old (of people)

How do you use 老?

See it in 我爷爷老了, 他老是迟到 and 她老说这个.

What are some examples of 老 in a sentence?

  1. HSK 2

    我爷爷老了。

    Wǒ yéye lǎo le.

    My grandpa has gotten old.

  2. HSK 3

    他老是迟到。

    Tā lǎoshì chídào.

    He's always late.

  3. HSK 1

    她老说这个。

    Tā lǎo shuō zhège.

    She says this all the time.

How is 老 used in a conversation?

  1. Speaker A:

    他怎么还没来？

    Tā zěnme hái méi lái?

    Why isn't he here yet?

  2. Speaker B:

    他老是迟到。

    Tā lǎoshì chídào.

    He's always late.

  3. Speaker A:

    我们等他吧。

    Wǒmen děng tā ba.

    Let's wait for him.

  4. Speaker B:

    好吧。

    Hǎo ba.

    Okay.

Can you use 老 correctly?

0 of 3 answered
  1. 1.Fill in the blank: 他___是迟到。 (He's always late.)
  2. 2.What does 我爷爷老了。 mean?
  3. 3.What does 老 mean in 她老说这个？

What should you learn next?

Related words

Browse every entry in the Chinese word dictionary.

English glosses on this page are adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG (snapshot 2026-10-23), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Glosses were edited for learners.