(shēng) - to be born, to give birth, raw, life in Mandarin

shēng

Traditional: 生

#1052 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

to be born, to give birth, raw, life

Word origin

A pictograph of a young plant sprouting from the ground (the line of earth at the base), giving the core meanings of to grow, to be born and life.

Origin: pictographic
Root: a sprout rising from the earth line, depicting growth

Stroke order

生

Examples

。

She gave birth to a boy.

。

This fish is still raw.

九jiǔ九jiǔ零líng。

He was born in 1990.

。

Do not be angry any more.

树shù虫chóng。

Many insects have appeared on the tree.

生 (shēng) means to be born, to give birth, raw, life. It is a versatile word, mostly a verb but also an adjective for uncooked.

Where this fits

The 1,000 most common Mandarin words

Where this word sits in the core vocabulary, and what to learn around it.

Mandarin vocabulary by HSK level

How many words each level actually needs, with real counts.

Mandarin learning guides

Podcasts, pronunciation traps and the things a word list cannot teach.

Appears in 17 words

Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 生.

先生xiān shēngMr., sir; husband (informal)发生fā shēngto happen, to occur 生活shēng huólife, to live, livelihood 医生yī shēngdoctor, physician 生命shēng mìnglife (of a living being)人生rén shēnglife, human life 生气shēng qìangry, get angry 生意shēng yìbusiness, trade 学生xué shēngstudent 一生yì shēnga lifetime, all one's life 生日shēng rìbirthday 出生chū shēngto be born, birth 生存shēng cúnto survive, to exist, survival 生物shēng wùliving thing, organism, biology 产生chǎn shēngto produce, to give rise to, to bring about 生病shēng bìngto fall ill, to get sick 女生nǚ shēnggirl, female student

Used in

Grammar articles

(18)

Add to review queue

Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.

Go to my review queue

Mandarin · Free printables

生: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "生" (to be born, to give birth, raw, life): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

Free for members

The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.

Start your free week

This word is part of lesson 22.