HSK 6 · Nature

生存 shēngcún “to survive” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 生存 means

  1. to survive
  2. survival
  3. existence
  4. to exist

How to say 生存

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale生shēng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale存cún2nd tone, rising

生存 in a sentence

  1. 没有水,我们无法生存。

    Méiyǒu shuǐ, wǒmen wúfǎ shēngcún.

    Without water, we can’t survive.

    Sentence #333102 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 人类不能在火星上生存。

    Rénlèi bùnéng zài huǒxīng shàng shēngcún.

    Humans cannot survive on Mars.

    Sentence #7781509 from Tatoeba

  3. 空气污染将会威胁我们的生存。

    Kōngqì wūrǎn jiāng huì wēixié wǒmen de shēngcún.

    Air pollution will threaten our survival.

    Sentence #604468 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 生存 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 生 (shēng) drawn as one shape
生shēngto grow; to give birth; to produce

生 is a single shape of 5 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidA shoot growing up out of the soil 土: to grow, to be born.

The character 存 (cún) with each of its parts in a different colour
存cúnto exist
  • 才ability · cáiSound part
  • 子child · zǐMeaning part

子 hints at the meaning (child); 才 (cái) hints at the sound. Compare it with cún.

How to write 生存

生 5 strokes · 存 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 生存

Words with 生

Words with 存

More words: Nature & Environment

FAQs

生存 (shēngcún) means “to survive” or “survival”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it shēngcún: shēng with a 1st tone, then cún with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 生存 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shengcun with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 生存 from the suggestions. Typing shengcun into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
生存 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.