HSK 6 · Work

上任 shàngrèn “to take office” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 上任 means

  1. to take office
  2. to assume a post
  3. previous (incumbent)
  4. predecessor

How to say 上任

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale上shàng4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale任rèn4th tone, falling

上任 in a sentence

  1. 新官上任三把火。

    Xīn guān shàngrèn sān bǎ huǒ.

    A new official always starts with a burst of zeal (“A new broom sweeps clean”).

    Sentence #730169 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 上任 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 上 (shàng) with each of its parts in a different colour
上shàngup; upper; above; previous
  • ⺊divination form of 卜 · bǔ
  • 一one · yī

Memory aidA short stroke above the line: up, on top.

The character 任 (rèn) with each of its parts in a different colour
任rènto assign
  • 亻person form of 人 · rénMeaning part
  • 壬part of the characterSound part

How to write 上任

上 3 strokes · 任 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 上任

Words with 上

上shàng · up上午shàngwǔ · morning (forenoon)上课shàngkè · to go to class上学shàngxué · to go to school早上zǎoshang · morning晚上wǎnshang · evening上班shàngbān · to go to work上面shàngmiàn · above路上lùshang · on the road上来shànglái · to come up

Words with 任

任务rènwu · mission责任zérèn · responsibility任何rènhé · any信任xìnrèn · to trust担任dānrèn · to hold (a post)主任zhǔrèn · director任性rènxìng · wilful任命rènmìng · to appoint任意rènyì · at will任重道远rènzhòngdàoyuǎn · to carry a heavy responsibility (lit. heavy load

More words: Work & Career

洽谈qiàtán · to negotiate请示qǐngshì · to ask for instructions任命rènmìng · to appoint上级shàngjí · superior事务shìwù · affairs事业shìyè · career手艺shǒuyì · craftsmanship书记shūji · secretary (of a party committee)

FAQs

上任 (shàngrèn) means “to take office” or “to assume a post”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it shàngrèn: shàng with a 4th tone, then rèn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 上任 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shangren with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 上任 from the suggestions. Typing shangren into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
上任 is an HSK 6 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.