HSK 4 · Body

生命 shēngmìng “life” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 生命 means

  1. life
  2. life (as the characteristic of living beings)
  3. living being
  4. creature

How to say 生命

  • 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 fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale命mìng4th tone, falling

生命 in a sentence

  1. 没有太阳，不可能有生命。

    Méiyǒu tàiyáng, bù kěnéng yǒu shēngmìng.

    There cannot be life without the sun.

    Sentence #2188498 from Tatoeba

  2. 火星上有生命吗？

    Huǒxīng shàng yǒu shēngmìng ma?

    Is there life on Mars?

    Sentence #6961329 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  3. 水就是生命。

    Shuǐ jiùshì shēngmìng.

    Water is life.

    Sentence #5978213 from Tatoeba

How 生命 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 命 (mìng) with each of its parts in a different colour
命mìnglife
  • 令command · líng
  • 口mouth · kǒu

How to write 生命

生 5 strokes · 命 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 生命

Words with 生

医生yīshēng · doctor学生xuésheng · student先生xiānsheng · mr大学生dàxuéshēng · university student小学生xiǎoxuéshēng · primary school student中学生zhōngxuéshēng · middle-school student生日shēngrì · birthday生病shēngbìng · to get sick生气shēngqì · angry女生nǚshēng · female student

Words with 命

寿命shòumìng · life span命令mìnglìng · order命运mìngyùn · fate性命xìngmìng · life (of a person or animal)命名mìngmíng · to name拼命pīnmìng · desperately任命rènmìng · to appoint革命gémìng · revolution使命shǐmìng · mission要命yàomìng · terribly

More words: People, Body & Health

汗hàn · perspiration力气lìqi · strength毛máo · hair皮肤pífū · skin痛tòng · painful宝贝bǎobèi · baby成人chéngrén · adult宠物chǒngwù · house pet

FAQs

生命 (shēngmìng) means “life” or “life (as the characteristic of living beings)”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it shēngmìng: shēng with a 1st tone, then mìng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 生命 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shengming with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 生命 from the suggestions. Typing shengming into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
生命 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

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.