睡 meaning in English

shuì

to sleep; to lie down

HSK 1verb13 strokes

Meaning of 睡

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

shuì

to sleep
to lie down

How to use 睡

睡 rarely stands alone in everyday speech; people usually say 睡觉 (shuìjiào) for "to sleep" or "go to bed." It also combines with other words, as in 午睡 (wǔshuì, afternoon nap) and 睡着 (shuìzháo, fall asleep). Example: 我十一点睡觉。(Wǒ shíyī diǎn shuìjiào.) I go to bed at eleven.

睡 is made of 目 (mù, eye) on the left and 垂 (chuí, to hang down) on the right. Picture your eyelids drooping down over your eyes, and you are falling asleep.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up 睡 with 垂 (chuí) or write the right side wrong, since 垂 has many horizontal strokes that are easy to miscount. Another trap is reading 睡着 as shuìzhe; when it means "fall asleep" it is shuìzháo.

睡 in example sentences

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

在zài父fù亲qīn回huí家jiā之zhī前qián，我wǒ已yǐ经jīng睡shuì了le。

I slept before my father came home.

你nǐ确què定dìng你nǐ不bù想xiǎng睡shuì在zài它tā上shàng面miàn吗ma？

Are you sure you don't want to sleep on it?

小xiǎo睡shuì一yī会huì儿er，你nǐ会huì好hǎo一yī些xiē。

If you sleep for a while, you will feel much better.

我wǒ的de狗gǒu跟gēn我wǒ睡shuì一yí个gè房fáng间jiān。

My dog sleeps in the same room I do.

我wǒ非fēi常cháng希xī望wàng每měi天tiān都dōu能néng早zǎo睡shuì早zǎo起qǐ！

I really wish I could go to bed early every day and get up early!

Stroke order for each character

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

睡 shuì · to sleep · 13 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 睡.

睡觉	shuìjiào	to go to bed; to sleep
午睡	wǔshuì	to take a nap in the afternoon
睡着	shuìzháo	to fall asleep
睡眠	shuìmián	sleep; to sleep
睡袋	shuìdài	sleeping bag
酣睡	hānshuì	to sleep soundly; to fall into a deep sleep
睡衣	shuìyī	night clothes; pajamas
入睡	rùshuì	to fall asleep
沉睡	chénshuì	to be fast asleep; (fig.) to lie dormant; to lie undiscovered
睡醒	shuìxǐng	to wake up
小睡	xiǎoshuì	to nap; to doze
打瞌睡	dǎkēshuì	to doze; to nod off

Questions about 睡

What does 睡 mean?

睡 (shuì) means "to sleep; to lie down" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 睡?

睡 is made of 1 character: 睡 (13 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.

Is 睡 an HSK word?

Yes. 睡 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 睡 and 睡觉?

Both mean to sleep, but 睡觉 is the normal everyday verb phrase, like "go to sleep." 睡 alone appears with time words or results, such as 睡了八个小时 (slept eight hours) or 睡不着 (can't fall asleep).

How do I say "I can't sleep" in Chinese?

Say 我睡不着 (wǒ shuì bu zháo), which means you try but cannot fall asleep. The opposite, 睡得着 (shuì de zháo), means you are able to fall asleep.