HSK 4 · Emotions

失败 shībài “to fail” in Chinese

Traditional 失敗

What 失败 means

  1. to fail
  2. failure
  3. to be defeated
  4. to lose
  5. to fail (e.g. experiments)
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • defeat

Measure word 次 cì · 一次失败 yí cì shībài

How to say 失败

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale失shī1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale败bài4th tone, falling

失败 in a sentence

  1. 他的生意失败了。

    Tā de shēngyi shībài le.

    His business failed.

    Sentence #2333715 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我们试了三次，都失败了。

    Wǒmen shì le sān cì, dōu shībài le.

    We tried three times and failed every time.

    Sentence #5983607 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我不想考试失败。

    Wǒ bù xiǎng kǎoshì shībài.

    I don’t want to fail my exams.

    Sentence #2395005 from Tatoeba

How 失败 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 失 (shī) with each of its parts in a different colour
失shīto lose
  • 丿slash · piě
  • 夫man · fū
The character 败 (bài) with each of its parts in a different colour
败bàito defeat
  • 贝sea shell · bèiSound part
  • 攵tap form of 攴 · pūMeaning part

攵 hints at the meaning (tap); 贝 (bèi) hints at the sound. Compare it with bài.

How to write 失败

失 5 strokes · 败 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 失败

Words with 失

失望shīwàng · disappointed失眠shīmián · to suffer from insomnia失去shīqù · to lose消失xiāoshī · to disappear失业shīyè · unemployment损失sǔnshī · loss丧失sàngshī · to lose遗失yíshī · to lose (something)失踪shīzōng · to go missing失事shīshì · (of a plane or ship) to crash

Words with 败

败坏bàihuài · to ruin腐败fǔbài · corrupt

More words: Emotions & Feelings

可惜kěxī · it is a pity浪漫làngmàn · romantic麻烦máfan · trouble难受nánshòu · to feel unwell失望shīwàng · disappointed受不了shòubùliǎo · unbearable态度tàidu · attitude讨厌tǎoyàn · to dislike

FAQs

失败 (shībài) means “to fail” or “failure”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it shībài: shī with a 1st tone, then bài with a 4th 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, 失败 is written 失敗. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 次 (cì). For example, one to fail is 一次失败 (yí cì shībài).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shibai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 失败 from the suggestions. Typing shibai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
失败 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.