TongTong
Sign in

生还 (shēng huán) — to survive (a disaster, accident); to return alive

Definition

A formal verb meaning 'to survive' (a disaster, accident, or attack) and return alive. Stronger and more literary than 幸存, which emphasizes the act of surviving.

verb
to survive (a disaster, accident)to return alive

Examples

  • ，。
    Zài zhè cì dì zhèn zhōng, zhǐ yǒu shí jǐ rén shēng huán.
    Only a dozen or so people survived this earthquake.
  • 生还。
    Jiù yuán duì xiāng xìn hái yǒu kuàng gōng kě néng shēng huán.
    The rescue team believes there may still be miners who could survive.
  • ，生还，。
    Kōng nàn fā shēng hòu, suǒ yǒu chéng kè quán bù shēng huán, kān chēng qí jì.
    After the plane crash, all passengers survived — it was a miracle.

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.

生shēngalive
还háireturn

The word combines 生 meaning alive with 还 meaning return, so it denotes returning alive.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 還; 还 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
睘
睘qióng還hái
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 還 pairs 辵 (walk) with 睘 as a sound part for 'go back; return'; the simplified 还 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 还 →
Appears in
Safety & Danger

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