HSK 4 · Emotions

紧张 jǐnzhāng “nervous” in Chinese

Traditional 緊張

What 紧张 means

  1. nervous
  2. keyed up
  3. intense
  4. tense
  5. strained
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • in short supply

Measure word 阵 zhèn · 一阵紧张 yí zhèn jǐnzhāng

How to say 紧张

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale紧jǐn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale张zhāng1st tone, high and level

紧张 in a sentence

  1. 飞机起飞的时候我很紧张。

    Fēijī qǐfēi de shíhou wǒ hěn jǐnzhāng.

    I was very nervous as the plane took off.

    Sentence #811919 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  2. 比赛前我一直都很紧张。

    Bǐsài qián wǒ yìzhí dōu hěn jǐnzhāng.

    I always get nervous before a match.

    Sentence #2029470 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 别紧张。

    Bié jǐnzhāng.

    Don’t be nervous.

    Sentence #4950231 from Tatoeba

How 紧张 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 紧 (jǐn) drawn as one shape
紧jǐntight

紧 is a single shape of 10 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

The character 张 (zhāng) with each of its parts in a different colour
张zhāngto open up
  • 弓bow · gōngMeaning part
  • 长long · chángSound part

弓 hints at the meaning (bow); 长 (cháng) hints at the sound. Compare it with zhāng.

How to write 紧张

紧 10 strokes · 张 7 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

紧张 (jǐnzhāng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 紧张 (jǐnzhāng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 紧张

Words with 紧

抓紧zhuājǐn · to keep a firm grip on紧急jǐnjí · urgent赶紧gǎnjǐn · hurriedly不要紧búyàojǐn · unimportant紧迫jǐnpò · urgent

Words with 张

张zhāng · mw for flat objects主张zhǔzhāng · to advocate夸张kuāzhāng · to exaggerate慌张huāngzhāng · flustered扩张kuòzhāng · to expand东张西望dōngzhāngxīwàng · to look around in all directions

More words: Emotions & Feelings

害羞hàixiū · shy后悔hòuhuǐ · to regret激动jīdòng · excited骄傲jiāo'ào · proud开心kāixīn · to feel happy可怜kělián · pitiful可惜kěxī · it is a pity浪漫làngmàn · romantic

FAQs

紧张 (jǐnzhāng) means “nervous” or “keyed up”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it jǐnzhāng: jǐn with a 3rd tone, then zhāng with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 紧张 is written 緊張. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 阵 (zhèn). For example, one nervous is 一阵紧张 (yí zhèn jǐnzhāng).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type jinzhang with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 紧张 from the suggestions. Typing jinzhang into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
紧张 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.