It’s Mum’s birthday today, so I’ve ordered a cake.
Sentence #3526280 from Tatoeba · translation adapted
How 生日 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.
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.
日rìsun
口mouth · kǒu
一one · yī
Memory aidDrawn from the sun.
How to write 生日
生 5 strokes · 日 4 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 生日 (shēngrì). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
生日 (shēngrì) means “birthday”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it shēngrì: shēng with a 1st tone, then rì with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 生日 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 个 (gè). For example, one birthday is 一个生日 (yí ge shēngrì).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shengri with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 生日 from the suggestions. Typing shengri into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
生日 is an HSK 2 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.
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.
生shēng1st tone, high and level
日rì4th tone, falling
