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Chinese vocabulary · Beginner

How do you say "sick" in Chinese?

生病

shēngbìng

Noun Hanzi

In Chinese, "sick" is 生病.

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Pronunciation

Two syllables: 'sheng' (rising tone) and 'bing' (falling tone), pronounced like you're becoming something (disease).

Writing and usage

Two characters totaling 10 strokes; the first means born or to become, the second means illness or sickness, combining to mean contracted a disease.

Example sentence

他昨天生病了。

He got sick yesterday.

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How to remember 生病

The second character looks angular and broken, matching how sickness breaks your health.

Related words

Browse all Chinese words in the glossary.

See more adjectives.

See more adjectives.

See more adjectives.

Questions about 生病

How do you say "sick" in Chinese?

In Chinese, "sick" is 生病. It is a noun.

How is 生病 written in Chinese?

Two characters totaling 10 strokes; the first means born or to become, the second means illness or sickness, combining to mean contracted a disease.

How is 生病 used in a sentence?

Use 生病 as you would use the equivalent noun in English. For example: 他昨天生病了。 (He got sick yesterday.).

Where can I practice Chinese words for free?

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"Sick" in other languages

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