HSK 6 · Emotions

争气 zhēngqì “to try hard not to disappoint” in Chinese

Traditional 爭氣

What 争气 means

  1. to try hard not to disappoint
  2. to do (someone) proud
  3. to work hard for sth
  4. to resolve on improvement
  5. determined not to fall short

How to say 争气

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale争zhēng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale气qì4th tone, falling

争气 in a sentence

  1. 这孩子真争气，考上了好大学。

    Zhè háizi zhēn zhēngqì, kǎoshàng le hǎo dàxué.

    This child has really done us proud by getting into a good university.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 我一定要争气，不让父母失望。

    Wǒ yídìng yào zhēngqì, bú ràng fùmǔ shīwàng.

    I’m determined to do well and not let my parents down.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 争气 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 争 (zhēng) with each of its parts in a different colour
争zhēngto strive for
  • ⺈knife form of 刀 · dāo
  • 彐snout · jì
  • 亅hook · jué
The character 气 (qì) drawn as one shape
气qìgas; air

气 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from layers of vapour rising: air, steam, breath.

How to write 争气

争 6 strokes · 气 4 strokes

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

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

Words related to 争气

Words with 争

竞争jìngzhēng · to compete争论zhēnglùn · to argue争取zhēngqǔ · to fight for战争zhànzhēng · war力争lìzhēng · to strive for争夺zhēngduó · to fight over斗争dòuzhēng · struggle争端zhēngduān · dispute争议zhēngyì · dispute争先恐后zhēngxiānkǒnghòu · to compete eagerly

Words with 气

天气tiānqì · weather不客气bú kèqi · you’re welcome生气shēngqì · angry气qì · air力气lìqi · strength空气kōngqì · air气候qìhòu · climate脾气píqi · temper淘气táoqì · naughty小气xiǎoqì · stingy

More words: Emotions & Attitudes

欲望yùwàng · desire在意zàiyì · to care about着迷zháomí · to be fascinated振奋zhènfèn · to inspire震撼zhènhàn · to shock震惊zhènjīng · shocked志气zhìqì · aspiration指望zhǐwàng · to count on

FAQs

争气 (zhēngqì) means “to try hard not to disappoint” or “to do (someone) proud”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it zhēngqì: zhēng with a 1st tone, then qì 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, 争气 is written 爭氣. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhengqi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 争气 from the suggestions. Typing zhengqi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
争气 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.