老人

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 老人 is read as ろうじん and is a noun for an elderly person.
• Basic usage: Giving a seat to an elderly person with a cane appears in 杖をついた老人に席を譲る, while an elderly character in a story appears in 物語の老人.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• A clause modifying the person
  • A preceding clause can identify the person more specifically, as in 杖をついた老人.
• Difference from 高齢者
  • Compared with the objective or administrative label for an older age group, this word can directly identify an individual elderly person in a sentence or story.