(xǐng) - to wake up, to be awake, to sober up in Mandarin
xǐngTraditional: 醒
Translation
to wake up, to be awake, to sober up
Word origin
A phono-semantic character built from 酉 (yǒu, wine vessel) with 星 (xīng) as the phonetic element, the original sense being to come round after drink.
- Origin
- phonetic
- Root
- 酉 (yǒu, wine vessel) + 星 (xīng, phonetic)
Stroke order
醒
Examples
六。
I woke up at six today.
，。
Keep it down, you will wake the child.
七。
Please wake me at seven.
。
When I woke up it was still dark.
，。
He drank too much and is still not sober.
醒 (xǐng) is waking up, and it describes the change of state rather than the action of getting out of bed. 我醒了 (wǒ xǐng le) means I am awake now. For getting up, you want 起床 (qǐ chuáng), which is a separate step and often a good deal later.
It shows up constantly as a resultative ending on other verbs: 叫醒 (jiào xǐng) to wake someone by calling, 吵醒 (chǎo xǐng) to wake someone with noise, 睡醒 (shuì xǐng) to wake naturally after sleeping. That is where most learners will actually meet it.
The second sense, sobering up, is the older one and still live: 酒醒了 (jiǔ xǐng le) means the drink has worn off. From it comes 清醒 (qīng xǐng), clear-headed, and 提醒 (tí xǐng), to remind someone, literally to lift them into wakefulness.
Where this fits
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醒: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "醒" (to wake up, to be awake, to sober up): 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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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 44.