卫生 meaning in English
hygienic; sanitary; hygiene; sanitation
Meaning of 卫生
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- hygienic; sanitary
- hygiene; sanitation
How to use 卫生
卫生 works as an adjective for clean, sanitary places or habits, and as a noun for hygiene in general. It appears in common phrases like 卫生间 (wèishēngjiān, bathroom) and 打扫卫生 (dǎsǎo wèishēng, to clean up). Example: 这家饭馆不太卫生。(Zhè jiā fànguǎn bú tài wèishēng.) This restaurant is not very clean.
卫 (wèi) means to guard or protect, and 生 (shēng) means life. Hygiene is how you guard your life and health, so 卫生 means sanitary or hygiene.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 卫 (wèi) with 为 (wèi, for) because they share the same pronunciation, and write 为生 by mistake. Also keep 生 in the first tone here, wèishēng, not a neutral tone as in 先生 (xiānsheng).
卫生 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.
卫 wèi · to guard · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
生 shēng · to grow · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 卫生.
| 先生 | xiānsheng | teacher; gentleman; sir; mister (Mr.) |
| 医生 | yīshēng | doctor; medical practitioner |
| 生气 | shēngqì | to get angry; to be furious; vitality; liveliness |
| 学生 | xuéshēng | student; schoolchild |
| 生日 | shēngrì | birthday |
| 生病 | shēngbìng | to fall ill |
| 女生 | nǚshēng | schoolgirl; female student |
| 男生 | nánshēng | schoolboy; male student |
| 大学生 | dàxuéshēng | university student; college student |
| 小学生 | xiǎoxuéshēng | primary school student; schoolchild |
| 中学生 | zhōngxuéshēng | middle-school student; high school student |
| 生活 | shēnghuó | to live; life |
Questions about 卫生
What does 卫生 mean?
卫生 (wèishēng) means "hygienic; sanitary; hygiene; sanitation" and is used as a adjective and noun.
How do you write 卫生?
卫生 is made of 2 characters: 卫 (3 strokes), 生 (5 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 卫生 an HSK word?
Yes. 卫生 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 卫生 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 卫生 is written 衛生.
Is 卫生 the same as 干净 (gānjìng)?
They overlap, but 干净 just means clean or tidy, while 卫生 focuses on health and germs. A room can look 干净 but food that is not 卫生 might still make you sick.
How do I ask where the bathroom is using 卫生?
Say 卫生间在哪儿? (Wèishēngjiān zài nǎr?) meaning Where is the bathroom. 卫生间 is a polite, common word for restroom in homes, restaurants and offices.