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生活 (shēng huó) — life (noun); to live (verb)

Definition

生活 means 'daily life' or 'way of living' — the everyday routine and conditions. 活 (verb) just means 'to live/be alive'; 人生 is 'life' as one's whole existence from birth to death.

life (noun)to live (verb)

Examples

  • 生活。
    Tā de shēng huó hěn yǒu yì si.
    His life is very interesting.
  • 生活。
    Wǒ shēng huó zài shàng hǎi.
    I live in Shanghai.
  • 生活？
    Nǐ jué de shēng huó zěn me yàng?
    What do you think of life?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

生shēnglive
活huólive

生 and 活 both mean live, so 生活 joins two ideas about being alive or making a living.

Characters in this word

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
HSK 3.0 Level 3500 Most Frequent Chinese WordsHSK 2.0 Level 41000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsAbstract Concepts2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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