Dictionary › 生

生

shēng

Old HSK 1 HSK 3.0 character level 1 Character

生 (shēng) means "to be born; to give birth; life". It is an HSK 3.0 level 4 word, and was HSK 1 in the old six-level list.

What 生 means

1. to grow; to give birth; to produce; to be born
2. to arise; to occur
3. to light (a fire)
4. to live; to be alive
5. life
6. raw; uncooked; unprocessed
7. unfamiliar; strange
8. bound formstudent; person engaged in a field
9. bound formmale role in traditional opera
10. bound formlife; lifetime
11. bound formmeans of livelihood
12. bound formvery; intensely (as in {生疼|shēng téng})
13. bound formin a forced manner (as in {生拉硬拽|shēng lā yìng zhuài})

Example sentences

• 生活。
  My life.
• 别生气。
  Don't get angry.
• 他是医生吗
  Is he a doctor?
• 我不是医生
  Wǒ bù shì yīshēng
  I'm not a doctor.
• 那就是人生
  Nà jiùshì rénshēng
  Such is life!
• 我不是学生
  I am not a student.

Words starting with 生

• 生活shēng huóto live; life; livelihood
• 生日shēng rìbirthday
• 生病shēng bìngto fall ill
• 生命shēng mìnglife (as the characteristic of living beings); living being; creature
• 生气shēng qìto get angry; to be furious; vitality; liveliness
• 生产shēng chǎnto produce; to manufacture; to give birth to a child
• 生动shēng dòng(of descriptions, writing etc) vivid; lively
• 生存shēng cúnto exist; to survive
• 生物shēng wùorganism; living creature; life form; (attributive) biological; bio-
• 生态shēng tàiecology (the study of interactions between organisms and their environment)…
• 生理shēng lǐphysiology
• 生育shēng yùto give birth to; to bear; fertility
• 生效shēng xiào(of a law, contract, agreement, ban etc) to come into force; to go into effect…
• 生机shēng jīopportunity to live; hope of success; vigor; vitality
• 生疏shēng shūunfamiliar; strange; out of practice
• 生锈shēng xiù(of metal) to rust; to become rusty; (fig.) (of a skill etc) to get rusty; to deteriorate
• 生意shēng yìlife force; vitality
• 生涯shēng yácareer; life (way in which sb lives); period of one's life
• 生长shēng zhǎngto grow; to grow up; to be brought up
• 生死shēng sǐlife or death
• 生活方式shēng huó fāng shìway of life; lifestyle
• 生前shēng qián(of a deceased) during one's life; while living
• 生怕shēng pàto fear; afraid; extremely nervous
• 生活费shēng huó fèicost of living; living expenses; alimony

Words containing 生

• 学生xué shengstudent; schoolchild
• 先生xiān shengteacher; gentleman; sir; mister (Mr.); husband
• 医生yī shēngdoctor; medical practitioner
• 发生fā shēngto happen; to occur; to take place; to break out
• 产生chǎn shēngto arise; to come into being; to come about; to give rise to; to bring into being…
• 人生rén shēnglife (one's time on earth)
• 研究生yán jiū shēnggraduate student; postgraduate student; research student
• 出生chū shēngto be born
• 做生意zuò shēng yìto do business
• 女生nǚ shēngschoolgirl; female student; girl
• 陌生mò shēngstrange; unfamiliar
• 卫生间wèi shēng jiānbathroom; toilet; WC
• 花生huā shēngpeanut
• 大学生dà xué shēnguniversity student; college student
• 一生yī shēngall one's life; throughout one's life
• 天生tiān shēngnature; disposition; innate
• 诞生dàn shēngto be born
• 维生素wéi shēng sùvitamin
• 考生kǎo shēngexam candidate; student whose name has been put forward for an exam
• 男生nán shēngschoolboy; male student; boy
• 自力更生zì lì gēng shēngregeneration through one's own effort (idiom); self-reliance
• 留学生liú xué shēngstudent studying abroad; returned student; foreign student; international student
• 卫生wèi shēnghygienic; sanitary; hygiene; sanitation
• 毕业生bì yè shēnggraduate

Characters that look like 生

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 失shīto lose; to miss; to fail
• 皮pískin; peel; rind; outer layer; leather; hide; fur; cover; wrapping; outer covering
• 庄zhuāngfarmstead; village; manor
• 岌jílofty peak; perilous
• 匝zā(literary) to encircle; to go around; to surround; (literary) whole; full…
• 氖nǎineon (chemistry)

Sounds the same

Read shēng, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 声sound; voice; tone
• 升to ascend; to rise; to promote; to elevate; liter
• 牲domestic animal; sacrificial animal
• 笙sheng, a free reed wind instrument with vertical bamboo pipes
• 甥(bound form) sister's son; nephew
• 昇(used as a surname and in given names)
• 泩rising of water
• 鼪stoat; weasel
• 呏gallon; quart
• 曻variant of 升

Where 生 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of HSK 1 Characters · Set 5 (HSK 1), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 1 word, with the rest of its level.
• How characters are built from components.
• How to learn Chinese characters.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read shēng correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.