What is the difference between dan1ren2 and yi1shen1?

[piano0011]

What is the difference between dan1ren2 and yi1shen1? Do they both mean single? As in not in a relationship?

[honglam]

单身 means "not in a relationship, single".

单人(单 = one, 人= person) is more likely to be used in selling tickets or meals. 单人票 = ticket[票] for one visitor. 单人餐 = meal[餐] for one person.

As for 一身(btw here the character 一 should be pronounced as yi4. i.d. yi4shen1, not yi1shen1), it's hard to describe the exact meaning of it.

1) Meaning "all over the surface of one's body": eg. 我运动之后出了一身汗 = I was fully sweaty after sports. 他摔倒了，沾了一身的泥 = He felt and became covered in mud.

2) Meaning "lonely", as in 成语 "孑然一身". This expression is too strong. It's not only "not in a relationship". by describing someone as "孑然一身", you are indicating that everyone, include his/her blood relations, has left him/her. He/she may have been in a relationship once, but now his/her beloved has left him/her or passed away. And he/she has no friend in this world.

[Lu]

On 1/22/2024 at 2:13 PM, honglam said:

(btw here the character 一 should be pronounced as yi4. i.d. yi4shen1, not yi1shen1)

You're correct of course that 一身 is pronounced yì shēn, but when writing pinyin, the tone sandhi are usually not written out. This is because otherwise, the reader (usually a learner) wouldn't be sure what the original pronunciation of the character is. Same for things like nǐ hǎo, which is written with two third tones even though it's pronounced ní hǎo.

 

I don't have anything to add to the rest of your answer, you explain it very well.