(huó zhe) - to be alive, to live (ongoing) in Mandarin
huózheTraditional: 活著
Translation
to be alive, to live (ongoing)
Word origin
活着 means 'to be alive': 活 (huó, 'to live', a phono-semantic compound of 氵the water radical and 舌 shé as phonetic) plus 着 (zhe), the aspect particle marking an ongoing state.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 活 (huó, to live: 氵water + 舌 phonetic) + 着 (zhe, ongoing-state particle)
Stroke order
活
着
Examples
。
He is still alive.
。
While alive, you should live well.
。
I just want to live well.
。
As long as one is alive, there is hope.
。
She lives for her family.
活着 (huó zhe) means to be alive or in a living state. 活 means to live or be alive, and 着 (zhe) is the durative aspect particle indicating an ongoing state. Together they describe the state of being alive as a continuous condition. 活着 is also the title of Yu Hua's famous 1993 novel about resilience. It differs from 生活 (shēng huó, to live as in daily life) in that 活着 specifically means biological aliveness.
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Go to my review queueThis word is part of lesson 12.