TongTong
Sign in

生 (shēng) — to give birth; to be born; to produce; to generate; to arise; to occur

Definition

Covers 'be born / give birth', 'grow', and 'arise, occur'. For people being born, use 出生; for events arising, 发生 is more common; 产生 emphasizes producing a result or emotion.

to give birthto be bornto produceto generateto ariseto occur
Easily confused

Examples

  • 1990。
    Tā shēng yú 1990 nián.
    He was born in 1990.
  • 生。
    Zhè zhǒng zhí wù shēng zài rè dài dì qū.
    This plant grows in tropical regions.
  • ，。
    Máo dùn fā shēng le, xū yào jiě jué.
    A conflict has arisen and needs to be resolved.

Origin

Compound ideograph
六书liùshū
会意huìyì

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.

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 41000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsBiology2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 4 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.