How to say “sleep” in Chinese

睡觉
shuìjiào

sleep; go to bed

verb · HSK 1 · topic “Time and the day”

“Sleep” in Chinese is 睡觉, shuì jiào: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.

How to pronounce it

睡觉 is read shuì jiào: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.

shuì — 4th tonesharply falling, like “Stop!”
jiào — 4th tonesharply falling, like “Stop!”

How to write it

睡
shuì — sleep

On the left, 目 “eye”.

觉
jiào — sleep; feel

Two readings: jiào in 睡觉 and jué in 觉得.

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 “睡觉”.

Examples

Sentences from the course lessons with 睡觉. 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.
  • 我困了,想睡觉。wǒkùnle,xiǎngshuìjiàoI'm sleepy, I want to go to bed.
  • 宝贝,该睡觉了。bǎobèi,gāishuìjiàoleSweetie, time for bed.
  • 猫在窗台上睡觉māozàichuāngtáishangshuìjiàoThe cat is sleeping on the windowsill.

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 睡觉, pinyin shuìjiào.

What does 睡觉 mean?

睡觉 (shuìjiào) means “sleep; go to bed”.

How do you write 睡觉?

睡觉 is 2 characters: 睡 (shuì) — sleep; 觉 (jiào) — sleep; feel. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.

How do you pronounce 睡觉?

睡觉 is read shuìjiào. Tones: shuì — fourth tone, jiào — 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.

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