How to say “sleep” in Chinese
sleep
“Sleep” in Chinese is 睡, shuì: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
睡 is read shuì. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On the left, 目 “eye”.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “睡”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 睡. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 你晚上几点睡觉nǐwǎnshangjǐdiǎnshuìjiàoWhat time do you go to bed at night?
- 睡觉以前，我喜欢看书。shuìjiàoyǐqián,wǒxǐhuankànshūI like to read before bed.
- 我三天没睡觉了。wǒsāntiānméishuìjiàoleI haven't slept for three days.
- 我弟弟周末睡到中午，什么都不做。wǒdìdizhōumòshuìdàozhōngwǔ,shénmedōubúzuòMy younger brother sleeps until noon on weekends and does nothing.
- 你至少要睡七个小时nǐzhìshǎoyàoshuìqīgexiǎoshíYou need to sleep at least seven hours.
- 我困了，想睡觉。wǒkùnle,xiǎngshuìjiàoI'm sleepy, I want to go to bed.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “My day”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “sleep” in Chinese?
“Sleep” in Chinese is 睡, pinyin shuì.
What does 睡 mean?
睡 (shuì) means “sleep”.
How do you write 睡?
睡 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 睡?
睡 is read shuì. Tones: shuì — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“sleep” in the lesson “My day”
This word is from the topic “Time and the day” of HSK 1. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free