(qǐ chuáng) - to get up, to get out of bed in Mandarin

qǐchuáng

Traditional: 起床

HSK 2
#2,139 of 2,700Core 5000

Translation

to get up, to get out of bed

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Word origin

A verb-object compound of 起 (qǐ, to rise) and 床 (chuáng, bed), so literally to rise from the bed.

Origin
compound
Root
起 (qǐ, to rise) + 床 (chuáng, bed)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 起

起

Stroke order for 床

床

Examples

。

I get up at six every day.

,!

Get up quickly, you are going to be late!

。

He gets up late at weekends.

?

What time did you get up today?

。

After getting up I drink a glass of water first.

起床 (qǐ chuáng) is to get out of bed in the morning. The time expression goes before it, as it does with every Mandarin verb: 我六点起床, never 我起床六点.

It is a separable verb, and this is the part learners miss. 起 is the verb and 床 is its object, so aspect markers and modifiers slot in between them rather than after the whole thing: 起了床, 起过床, 你几点起的床. Say 起床了 and you are marking the whole event with sentence-final 了, which is also fine but means something slightly different, closer to "he is up now".

Do not confuse it with 起来 (qǐ lái), which is to get up from any position, or to stand up, and which also works as a directional complement on other verbs. If someone has fallen over you say 起来, not 起床. 起床 is specifically about leaving the bed, and its opposite in a daily routine is 睡觉 (shuì jiào), to go to sleep.

Where this fits

Used in

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起床: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "起床" (to get up, to get out of bed): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is taught in chapter 24, lesson 4: 起床, 毫无, 线 and 7 more words.