<p>When used alone (like in a noun phrase), <code>国家</code> and <code>国</code> are interchangeable, but there is a idiomatic tendency to use a word's multi-character form to make the sentence flow more "stable" (I am sure there is a concept/terminology for this but I don't know). </p>

<p>For example, <code>一个国家</code>, as a noun phrase, sounds stable and complete. <code>一个国</code> is not wrong but doesn't sound stable like something should follow. If you say <code>一个国，一个家，一个民族</code> then the rhythm is satisfied and the phrase is now complete. When there are more and more characters in a phrase, the stability requirement of each single word is less important, so <code>国与国之间</code> and <code>国家与国家之间</code> both sound natural.</p>

<p>In words that contains <code>国</code> (e.g. <code>国旗</code>), you can't replace it with <code>国家</code> (i.e. <code>国家旗</code> is not a word) simply because words are not free form. <code>哪国人</code> can be seen as a word (as opposed to phrase) meaning <code>哪个国家的人</code>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-14T21:03:38.850Z
i really like your explanation. I didn't know the concept of rythmical stability in Chinese.
Stephane Rolland
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-15T08:20:07.610Z
@StephaneRolland, after reading Claw's comment I realized my answer was merely superficial observation and the root explanation should be the 'bound morpheme' concept.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-15T17:57:44.717Z
@NS.X.: The word you were looking for is [prosody](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosody_%28linguistics%29).  You're not incorrect; prosody does play a role in whether speakers choose a polysyllabic word over a monosyllabic one, and it probably did play a role in the formation of bound morphemes in modern Mandarin (though the loss of the final consonants _-p -t -k -m_ from Middle Chinese played a much larger role).  _Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar_ by Yip Po-Ching has a full chapter devoted to prosody in modern Mandarin.
Claw
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-14T20:59:34.257Z
2012-08-14T20:59:34.257Z
NS.X.
<p>国 is an abbreviation for 国家. The latter loosely translates to "national family." </p>

<p>If you were talking about a country as a concept, you'd say"一个国家."</p>

<p>But if you were talking about specific countries, you'd use 国as an "abbreviation" after a specifier:</p>

<p>德 国, "Deutschland," or Germany.
Or 法国, France.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-18T00:55:23.990Z
2012-08-18T00:55:23.990Z
Tom Au
<p>You probably mean 国家 instead of 家国. 家国 doesn't exist.</p>

<p>你是哪国家人吗  is not correct (nor is 你是哪国家人), but you can say 你是哪国家的人 or 你是哪国家的 (meaning: from which country are you).</p>

<p>In 你是哪国人, 国 is not really  on its own. You can treat 哪国人 as a unit (which is a short form for 哪国家的人).</p>

<p>In oral Chinese 国 is seldomly used on its own (but every character however has a meaning, and 国 on its own also means country), but is used in for example 国内 (inside this country, typically used to mean within China, 内 means inside) or 国旗 (national flag, 旗 means flag). The list of such examples is long.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-14T22:15:29.233Z
Did you mean "In oral Chinese 国 is seldomly used on its own?"
deutschZuid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-14T23:03:09.537Z
In linguistics, 国 is what is known as a [bound morpheme](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bound_morpheme).  It carries grammatical meaning, but does not exist independently as a standalone word. Note that you may still see 国 as a standalone word in written language sometimes.  This may be sometimes employed to give the writing a "classical" feel, since 国 in [Classical Chinese](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Chinese) was not a bound morpheme.
Claw
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2012-08-14T23:18:35.293Z
@Claw, is there a "degree of bound"? Compared to the morphemes that can never be used alone (e.g. 们), 国 doesn't seem completely bound to me, as `国与国之间` sounds valid but not a bit "classical". Another example is in colloquial lines like `天国就是天上的国`.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-15T15:53:29.687Z
@Claw Why aren't you on [here](http://linguistics.stackexchange.com/)? :)
Alenanno
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2012-08-15T17:41:47.763Z
@NS.X.: I don't know much about the "degree of bound" of 国, but I suppose it's not unreasonable to think that degrees may exist as particular words [fossilize](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossilization_%28linguistics%29) into bound morphemes.  That being said, your first example uses 与, which is typically a Classical Chinese conjunction and in modern Mandarin is considered more formal than the usual 和.  In addition, I would posit that 国 is actually bound to 国与国, which is a rather idiomatic phrase which only has a few limited variations, such as 国与民.
Claw
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-15T17:48:51.717Z
@NS.X.: Concerning your second example, while comprehensible, 天国就是天上的国 seems somewhat incomplete to me when spoken aloud.  Various speakers may disagree, but I feel that 天国就是天上的国度 sounds much more natural orally.
Claw
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-15T18:03:20.957Z
家国 is not so common as 国家, but it does exist. It means home and the country or just country. It often appears on classical Chinese poetries.
Fivesheep
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-15T18:08:23.317Z
@Alenanno: The current participants on that exchange are much more knowledgeable than me in linguistics and usually provide much better answers, so I've been happy to simply lurk for now.
Claw
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-15T18:36:28.190Z
@Claw It's up to you, of course. I don't want to force anyone, but you don't need to be a super-expert to be there. :D
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-14T17:24:23.353Z
2012-08-15T05:46:02.797Z
2012-08-15T05:46:02.797Z
BertR
<p>In the Chinese book for beginners by Bellassen, it is stated that 国 cannot be used alone: it doesn't have a meaning on its own, and thus the word country/fatherland is 国家 and not 国.</p>

<p>However... I am surprised by the question 你是哪国人? (still in Bellassen's book). Would it be possible to ask 你是哪国家人吗? Are there other uses where 国 can be used alone, while still meaning country?</p>

<p><strong>edit:</strong>  the word country/fatherland is indeed 国家 as stated in the answer below, and not 家国 as I first wrote.</p>

<mandarin><grammar>
国家 vs. 国, when can 国 be used alone?
# 国家 vs. 国, when can 国 be used alone?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-08-14)

In the Chinese book for beginners by Bellassen, it is stated that 国 cannot be used alone: it doesn't have a meaning on its own, and thus the word country/fatherland is 国家 and not 国.

However... I am surprised by the question 你是哪国人? (still in Bellassen's book). Would it be possible to ask 你是哪国家人吗? Are there other uses where 国 can be used alone, while still meaning country?

**edit:** the word country/fatherland is indeed 国家 as stated in the answer below, and not 家国 as I first wrote.

**Tags:** mandarin, grammar


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2012-08-14. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

You probably mean 国家 instead of 家国. 家国 doesn't exist.

你是哪国家人吗 is not correct (nor is 你是哪国家人), but you can say 你是哪国家的人 or 你是哪国家的 (meaning: from which country are you).

In 你是哪国人, 国 is not really on its own. You can treat 哪国人 as a unit (which is a short form for 哪国家的人).

In oral Chinese 国 is seldomly used on its own (but every character however has a meaning, and 国 on its own also means country), but is used in for example 国内 (inside this country, typically used to mean within China, 内 means inside) or 国旗 (national flag, 旗 means flag). The list of such examples is long.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: Did you mean "In oral Chinese 国 is seldomly used on its own?"  
> **username_2**: In linguistics, 国 is what is known as a [bound morpheme](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bound_morpheme).  It carries grammatical meaning, but does not exist independently as a standalone word. Note that you may still see 国 as a standalone word in written language sometimes.  This may be sometimes employed to give the writing a "classical" feel, since 国 in [Classical Chinese](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Chinese) was not a bound morpheme.  
> **username_1**: @username_2, is there a "degree of bound"? Compared to the morphemes that can never be used alone (e.g. 们), 国 doesn't seem completely bound to me, as `国与国之间` sounds valid but not a bit "classical". Another example is in colloquial lines like `天国就是天上的国`.  
> **username_6**: @username_2 Why aren't you on [here](http://linguistics.stackexchange.com/)? :)  
> **username_2**: @username_1: I don't know much about the "degree of bound" of 国, but I suppose it's not unreasonable to think that degrees may exist as particular words [fossilize](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossilization_%28linguistics%29) into bound morphemes.  That being said, your first example uses 与, which is typically a Classical Chinese conjunction and in modern Mandarin is considered more formal than the usual 和.  In addition, I would posit that 国 is actually bound to 国与国, which is a rather idiomatic phrase which only has a few limited variations, such as 国与民.  
> **username_2**: @username_1: Concerning your second example, while comprehensible, 天国就是天上的国 seems somewhat incomplete to me when spoken aloud.  Various speakers may disagree, but I feel that 天国就是天上的国度 sounds much more natural orally.  
> **username_7**: 家国 is not so common as 国家, but it does exist. It means home and the country or just country. It often appears on classical Chinese poetries.  
> **username_2**: @username_6: The current participants on that exchange are much more knowledgeable than me in linguistics and usually provide much better answers, so I've been happy to simply lurk for now.  
> **username_6**: @username_2 It's up to you, of course. I don't want to force anyone, but you don't need to be a super-expert to be there. :D  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2012-08-14. Score: 3

When used alone (like in a noun phrase), `国家` and `国` are interchangeable, but there is a idiomatic tendency to use a word's multi-character form to make the sentence flow more "stable" (I am sure there is a concept/terminology for this but I don't know).

For example, `一个国家`, as a noun phrase, sounds stable and complete. `一个国` is not wrong but doesn't sound stable like something should follow. If you say `一个国，一个家，一个民族` then the rhythm is satisfied and the phrase is now complete. When there are more and more characters in a phrase, the stability requirement of each single word is less important, so `国与国之间` and `国家与国家之间` both sound natural.

In words that contains `国` (e.g. `国旗`), you can't replace it with `国家` (i.e. `国家旗` is not a word) simply because words are not free form. `哪国人` can be seen as a word (as opposed to phrase) meaning `哪个国家的人`.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: i really like your explanation. I didn't know the concept of rythmical stability in Chinese.  
> **username_1**: @StephaneRolland, after reading username_2's comment I realized my answer was merely superficial observation and the root explanation should be the 'bound morpheme' concept.  
> **username_2**: @username_1: The word you were looking for is [prosody](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosody_%28linguistics%29).  You're not incorrect; prosody does play a role in whether speakers choose a polysyllabic word over a monosyllabic one, and it probably did play a role in the formation of bound morphemes in modern Mandarin (though the loss of the final consonants _-p -t -k -m_ from Middle Chinese played a much larger role).  _Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar_ by Yip Po-Ching has a full chapter devoted to prosody in modern Mandarin.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2012-08-18. Score: 0

国 is an abbreviation for 国家. The latter loosely translates to "national family."

If you were talking about a country as a concept, you'd say"一个国家."

But if you were talking about specific countries, you'd use 国as an "abbreviation" after a specifier:

德 国, "Deutschland," or Germany.
Or 法国, France.


---

