How to Say “My girlfriend” in Chinese
Relationships and family · HSK 2
"My girlfriend" in Chinese is 我女朋友 (Wǒ nǚpéngyou). 女朋友 (nǚpéngyou) literally means 'female friend' but in modern Mandarin it almost always means romantic girlfriend; never just a female buddy. If you mean a platonic female friend, say 女性朋友 (nǚxìng péngyou) or just 朋友 (péngyou) to avoid confusion.
Primary translation
我女朋友
Wǒ nǚpéngyou
Variants by register
Casual
我女友
Wǒ nǚyǒu
When to use it
女朋友 (nǚpéngyou) literally means 'female friend' but in modern Mandarin it almost always means romantic girlfriend; never just a female buddy. If you mean a platonic female friend, say 女性朋友 (nǚxìng péngyou) or just 朋友 (péngyou) to avoid confusion. Young couples often shorten it to 女友 (nǚyǒu) in text messages. The cutesy term 对象 (duìxiàng) is used by older generations or parents; 'my 对象' sounds like 'my significant other' and is gender-neutral. Again, 的 is dropped for close relationships, so 我女朋友 not 我的女朋友.
Example sentences
这是我女朋友，小芳。
Zhè shì wǒ nǚpéngyou, Xiǎo Fāng.
This is my girlfriend, Xiao Fang.
我女朋友是北京人。
Wǒ nǚpéngyou shì Běijīng rén.
My girlfriend is from Beijing.
我和女朋友在一起两年了。
Wǒ hé nǚpéngyou zài yīqǐ liǎng nián le.
My girlfriend and I have been together for two years.