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入睡 (rù shuì) — to fall asleep, to go to sleep (formal/literary)

Definition

Formal/literary verb for 'fall asleep,' emphasizing the moment of drifting off rather than the act of going to bed. More common in writing than everyday speech.

verb
to fall asleepto go to sleep (formal/literary)

Examples

  • ，入睡。
    Tā tǎng zài chuáng shàng, hěn jiǔ dōu wú fǎ rù shuì.
    He lay in bed and couldn't fall asleep for a long time.
  • ，。
    Zuó wǎn wǒ rù bù liǎo shuì, yì zhí xǐng dào tiān liàng.
    Last night I couldn't fall asleep and stayed awake until dawn.
  • ，入睡。
    Chī le yào yǐ hòu, tā hěn kuài jiù rù shuì le.
    After taking the medicine, he quickly fell asleep.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

入rùenter
睡shuìsleep

入 (enter) and 睡 (sleep) form 'enter sleep', i.e. fall asleep.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

入 is drawn as an arrowhead, indicating 'to enter'.

Open 入 →

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
目目mùeye
Sound part声符shēngfú
垂
垂chuí睡shuì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

睡 combines 目, an eye, with 垂, which gives its sound.

Open 睡 →
Appears in
Daily Routine

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