TongTong
Sign in

性生活 (xìng shēng huó) — sex life

Definition

noun
sex life

Examples

  • 性生活。
    Tā men de xìng shēng huó fēi cháng hé xié.
    Their sex life is very harmonious.
  • 性生活。
    Yī shēng jiàn yì tā gǎi shàn xìng shēng huó zhì liàng.
    The doctor advised him to improve the quality of his sex life.
  • 性生活。
    Zhè běn shū jiǎng shù le rén lèi de xìng shēng huó.
    This book discusses human sex life.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

性xìngsex
生活life
生shēnglife活huólive
联合Coordinate

“性” (sex) and “生活” (life) combine to mean sexual life.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng性xìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

性 is built from 忄 (the heart) and 生 (a sound clue). The heart part connects the word to a person's inner nature or quality.

Open 性 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑活huó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

活 is built from 氵 (water) and 𠯑, which shows the sound; 𠯑 later changed into 舌.

Open 活 →
Appears in
Romance & Marriage

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.