Meaning of 午睡
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to take a nap in the afternoon
How to use 午睡
午睡 works as a verb (to nap after lunch) and as a noun (an afternoon nap). Midday naps are common at schools and workplaces in China. Example: 我每天中午都午睡半个小时。(Wǒ měitiān zhōngwǔ dōu wǔshuì bàn gè xiǎoshí.) I take a half-hour nap every day at noon.
午 (wǔ) means noon, as in 中午 (zhōngwǔ), and 睡 (shuì) means sleep, as in 睡觉 (shuìjiào). Put them together and you get a noon sleep, the nap many people take after 午饭 (wǔfàn).
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 午 (wǔ) with 牛 (niú, cow). 午 has no stroke poking out above the top horizontal line, but 牛 does. Also keep the third tone on wǔ and the fourth tone on shuì.
午睡 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.
午 wǔ · noon · 4 strokes
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睡 shuì · to sleep · 13 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 午睡.
| 睡觉 | shuìjiào | to go to bed; to sleep |
| 下午 | xiàwǔ | afternoon; p.m. |
| 午饭 | wǔfàn | lunch |
| 中午 | zhōngwǔ | noon; midday |
| 上午 | shàngwǔ | morning |
| 午餐 | wǔcān | lunch; luncheon |
| 睡着 | shuìzháo | to fall asleep |
| 睡眠 | shuìmián | sleep; to sleep |
| 端午节 | Duānwǔ Jié | Dragon Boat Festival (5th day of the 5th lunar month) |
| 睡袋 | shuìdài | sleeping bag |
| 酣睡 | hānshuì | to sleep soundly; to fall into a deep sleep |
| 午夜 | wǔyè | midnight |
Questions about 午睡
What does 午睡 mean?
午睡 (wǔshuì) means "to take a nap in the afternoon" and is used as a noun and verb.
How do you write 午睡?
午睡 is made of 2 characters: 午 (4 strokes), 睡 (13 strokes). That is 17 strokes in total.
Is 午睡 an HSK word?
Yes. 午睡 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can I say 睡午觉 instead of 午睡?
Yes. 睡午觉 (shuì wǔjiào) is very common in speech and means the same thing. 午睡 is a bit more compact and also works as a noun, for example 午睡时间 (wǔshuì shíjiān), nap time.
Can 午睡 take an object or a duration?
It takes no object, but you can add a duration after it, as in 午睡一个小时 (wǔshuì yí gè xiǎoshí), nap for an hour. To say you took a nap, add 了: 我午睡了 (wǒ wǔshuì le).