TraceHanzi

生存 meaning in English

shēngcún

to exist; to survive

HSK 3verb11 strokes

Meaning of 生存

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

shēngcún
  1. to exist
  2. to survive

How to use 生存

生存 is used for staying alive or continuing to exist, often in serious contexts like nature, business, or hard conditions. It sounds more formal than 活 (huó). Example: 没有水，人不能生存。 (Méiyǒu shuǐ, rén bù néng shēngcún.) Without water, people cannot survive.

生 (shēng) means to be born or to live, and 存 (cún) means to keep or to store. To keep on living is 生存 (shēngcún), to survive.

Common mistake: Learners often use 生存 for everyday living, like saying where they live. For that, use 住 (zhù) or 生活 (shēnghuó), since 生存 is about staying alive, not daily life.

生存 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

没méi有yǒu水shuǐ，我wǒ们men无wú法fǎ生shēng存cún。
Without water, we cannot exist.
没méi有yǒu梦mèng想xiǎng，人rén不bù能néng生shēng存cún。
Man can't live without dreams.
汤tāng姆mǔ明míng白bái生shēng存cún的de代dài价jià。
Tom understands what it takes to survive.
怎zěn么me会huì有yǒu人rén认rèn为wéi不bù懂dǒng英yīng语yǔ就jiù不bù能néng生shēng存cún？
Why do they say you have to learn English to survive?
如rú果guǒ没méi有yǒu了le水shuǐ，没méi有yǒu人rén能néng够gòu在zài地dì球qiú上shàng生shēng存cún。
Without water, no one can survive on Earth.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

生 shēng · to grow · 5 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

存 cún · to exist · 6 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6

Related words

Words that share a character with 生存.

先生xiānshengteacher; gentleman; sir; mister (Mr.)
医生yīshēngdoctor; medical practitioner
生气shēngqìto get angry; to be furious; vitality; liveliness
学生xuéshēngstudent; schoolchild
生日shēngrìbirthday
生病shēngbìngto fall ill
女生nǚshēngschoolgirl; female student
男生nánshēngschoolboy; male student
大学生dàxuéshēnguniversity student; college student
小学生xiǎoxuéshēngprimary school student; schoolchild
中学生zhōngxuéshēngmiddle-school student; high school student
生活shēnghuóto live; life

Questions about 生存

What does 生存 mean?

生存 (shēngcún) means "to exist; to survive" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 生存?

生存 is made of 2 characters: 生 (5 strokes), 存 (6 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.

Is 生存 an HSK word?

Yes. 生存 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 生存 and 生活?

生存 (shēngcún) is about surviving or continuing to exist at a basic level. 生活 (shēnghuó) means daily life or the way you live, like 我的生活很忙 (My life is busy).

Can 生存 be used as a noun?

Yes. It often appears as a noun in phrases like 生存能力 (shēngcún nénglì, survival ability) and 生存环境 (shēngcún huánjìng, living environment).

演出Previous in HSK 3yǎnchū