TongTong
Sign in

起床 (qǐ chuáng) — to get up, to get out of bed

Definition

起床 means 'to get up / get out of bed' and is a fixed verb — used only for waking and leaving bed, not for standing up from a seat (use 起来). Related verbs like 起 and 爬 also mean 'get up' but are used in different contexts.

verb
to get upto get out of bed

Examples

  • 起床。
    Wǒ měi tiān qī diǎn qǐ chuáng.
    I get up at seven every day.
  • 起床。
    Tā qǐ chuáng hěn wǎn.
    He gets up very late.
  • 起床。
    Wǒ men qǐ chuáng ba.
    Let's get up.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

起qǐget up
床chuángbed

起 (get up) and 床 (bed) describe rising from bed.

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
走走zǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
巳
巳sì起qǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

起 is made from 走 and 巳: 走 is the part connected with walking or running, and 巳 gives the sound.

Open 起 →

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

The 床 shape combines 广, a house, and 木, tree, to show a wooden bed inside a house.

Open 床 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 1HSK 2.0 Level 2Daily Routine3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 1 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.