Meaning of 健康
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- health
- healthy
How to use 健康
健康 works as a noun for health and as an adjective meaning healthy. It describes people, food, lifestyles, and even things like a relationship or the economy. Example: 多吃蔬菜对健康很好。(Duō chī shūcài duì jiànkāng hěn hǎo.) Eating more vegetables is very good for your health.
健 (jiàn) has the person radical 亻 beside 建 (jiàn, to build), so picture a person who builds up their body. 康 (kāng) appears in 康复 (kāngfù, to recover), so together 健康 means a body that is strong and well.
Common mistake: Learners often write 建康 and drop the person radical 亻 from 健. Another common error is saying 我很健康的 in place of 我很健康 (wǒ hěn jiànkāng), because the extra 的 is not needed in a simple description.
健康 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.
健 jiàn · strong · 10 strokes
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康 kāng · health · 11 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 健康.
| 健身 | jiànshēn | to exercise; to keep fit |
| 健全 | jiànquán | robust; sound |
| 康复 | kāngfù | to recuperate; to recover (health) |
| 保健 | bǎojiàn | health protection; health care |
| 健美 | jiànměi | healthy and beautiful; to do fitness exercises |
| 健壮 | jiànzhuàng | robust; healthy |
| 稳健 | wěnjiàn | firm; stable and steady |
| 小康 | xiǎokāng | moderately affluent; well-off |
| 健身房 | jiànshēnfáng | gym; fitness club |
| 健忘 | jiànwàng | forgetful |
| 健谈 | jiàntán | entertaining in conversation |
| 健在 | jiànzài | (of an elderly person) alive and in good health; (of a thing) intact; holding up OK; still |
Questions about 健康
What does 健康 mean?
健康 (jiànkāng) means "health; healthy" and is used as a adjective and noun.
How do you write 健康?
健康 is made of 2 characters: 健 (10 strokes), 康 (11 strokes). That is 21 strokes in total.
Is 健康 an HSK word?
Yes. 健康 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I wish someone good health in Chinese?
Say 祝你身体健康 (zhù nǐ shēntǐ jiànkāng), which means I wish you good health. It is very common in birthday wishes, holiday greetings, and toasts.
What is the difference between 健康 and 健身?
健康 is the state of being healthy, while 健身 (jiànshēn) is the action of exercising to keep fit. You go to a 健身房 (jiànshēnfáng, gym) to stay 健康.