Meaning of 住院
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to stay in hospital; to be hospitalized
How to use 住院
住院 is a verb-object phrase used when someone is admitted and stays overnight or longer in a hospital. Its opposite is 出院 (chūyuàn), to leave the hospital. Example: 我奶奶住院了。(Wǒ nǎinai zhùyuàn le.) My grandma is in the hospital.
住 (zhù) means to live or stay, and 院 (yuàn) is short for 医院 (yīyuàn), hospital. So 住院 is literally "to live in the hospital" for a while.
Common mistake: Learners often say 在医院 (zài yīyuàn) when they mean being hospitalized, but 在医院 can just mean visiting or working there, while 住院 means staying as a patient. Also, 住院 is verb plus object, so a length of time goes in the middle: 住了三天院 (zhùle sān tiān yuàn), not 住院了三天 in careful speech.
住院 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
住 zhù · to live · 7 strokes
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院 yuàn · courtyard · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 住院.
| 医院 | yīyuàn | hospital |
| 记住 | jìzhù | to remember; to bear in mind |
| 学院 | xuéyuàn | college; educational institute |
| 电影院 | diànyǐngyuàn | cinema; movie theater |
| 站住 | zhànzhù | to come to a stop; to halt; to keep one's footing; to stay upright |
| 院子 | yuànzi | courtyard; garden |
| 出院 | chūyuàn | to leave hospital; to be discharged from hospital |
| 院长 | yuànzhǎng | the head of an institution whose name ends in 院[yuan4]; chair of a board; university presi |
| 住房 | zhùfáng | housing |
| 抓住 | zhuāzhù | to grab hold of; to capture |
| 法院 | fǎyuàn | court of law; court |
| 居住 | jūzhù | to reside; to dwell |
Questions about 住院
What does 住院 mean?
住院 (zhùyuàn) means "to stay in hospital; to be hospitalized".
How do you write 住院?
住院 is made of 2 characters: 住 (7 strokes), 院 (9 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.
Is 住院 an HSK word?
Yes. 住院 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do you say "to be discharged from the hospital" in Chinese?
Use 出院 (chūyuàn). For example, 他明天出院。(Tā míngtiān chūyuàn.) He leaves the hospital tomorrow.
Can 住院 be used for a quick doctor visit?
No. A quick visit is 看病 (kànbìng) or 去医院 (qù yīyuàn). 住院 is only for staying in the hospital as an admitted patient.