生 (shēng) is built around one idea: life coming into being — being born, giving birth, growing, producing. From that root it stretches, quite naturally, to "developing a condition" — falling ill (生病), getting angry (生气), rusting (生锈), as if the illness or the anger were something growing in you. Two features make 生 worth a careful page. First, several of its most common compounds are separable verbs (离合词), so objects and modifiers slip inside them — "angry at me" is 生我的气, not *生气我. Second, 生 doubles as an adjective meaning "raw, unripe, unfamiliar." And it seeds a huge vocabulary: 学生, 生日, 生活, 陌生.
Sense 1: give birth / be born
生 is what a mother (or an animal) does — give birth. For a person's own birth, the word flips to 出生 (chūshēng) "be born."
我姐姐上个月生了一个女儿。
wǒ jiějie shàng ge yuè shēngle yí ge nǚ'ér
My sister had a daughter last month. — 生 = give birth.
你是哪年出生的？
nǐ shì nǎ nián chūshēng de
What year were you born? — one's own birth is 出生.
猫昨天晚上生了五只小猫。
māo zuótiān wǎnshang shēngle wǔ zhī xiǎo māo
The cat had five kittens last night.
Sense 2: develop a condition — 生病, 生气 (separable!)
生 + a state noun means "come to have that state": 生病 "fall ill," 生气 "get angry," 生锈 "rust." These are separable verb-object compounds, and the separability matters most for 生气. To say you're angry at someone, you split the word and drop the person in the middle: 生 + 谁的 + 气.
我昨天生病了，没去上班。
wǒ zuótiān shēngbìng le, méi qù shàngbān
I fell ill yesterday and didn't go to work.
你别生气，我不是故意的。
nǐ bié shēngqì, wǒ bú shì gùyì de
Don't be angry — I didn't do it on purpose.
你到底在生谁的气？
nǐ dàodǐ zài shēng shéi de qì
Who on earth are you angry at? — 生…的气 splits around the person.
别生我的气了，好不好？
bié shēng wǒ de qì le, hǎo bu hǎo
Stop being mad at me, okay? — 生我的气, not 生气我.
Sense 3: grow / produce; raw / unripe
The "come into being" sense also gives 生 the meanings grow / produce (生锈 "grow rust," 生根 "take root") and, as an adjective, raw / unripe / uncooked: 生的 "raw," 生肉 "raw meat," 半生不熟 "half-cooked." Its opposite here is 熟 (shú) "cooked / ripe / familiar."
这块肉还是生的，再煎一会儿。
zhè kuài ròu háishi shēng de, zài jiān yíhuìr
This meat is still raw — fry it a bit longer. — 生 as adjective 'raw'.
铁放久了会生锈。
tiě fàng jiǔ le huì shēngxiù
Iron rusts if you leave it a long time. — 生锈 'grow rust'.
Word family: 学生, 生日, 陌生, 生活
生 sits inside a large slice of everyday vocabulary. Note that in trailing position it often goes neutral tone: 学生 (xuésheng) "student," 先生 (xiānsheng) "mister."
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 学生 | xuésheng | student |
| 生日 | shēngrì | birthday |
| 生活 | shēnghuó | life, living |
| 医生 | yīshēng | doctor |
| 先生 | xiānsheng | Mr. / husband |
| 陌生 | mòshēng | unfamiliar, strange |
| 出生 | chūshēng | be born |
| 发生 | fāshēng | happen, occur |
我不太喜欢跟陌生人说话。
wǒ bú tài xǐhuan gēn mòshēng rén shuōhuà
I don't much like talking to strangers. — 陌生 'unfamiliar'.
祝你生日快乐！
zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè
Happy birthday to you! — 生日 'birthday'.
Grammar notes
Because 生病 and 生气 are separable, aspect markers attach to 生 while the noun half stays put: 生了病 "fell ill," 生过气 "got angry (before)." And note the register split for illness: 生病 is everyday; 患病 (huànbìng) and 得病 (débìng) are more formal/written (formal). For one's own birth, remember the division of labor: the mother 生 (gives birth), the child 出生 (is born) — you can't 生 yourself. For the whole class of split-apart verbs 生病/生气 belong to, see the separable verbs page.
Common Mistakes
1. Treating 生气 as inseparable. "Angry at someone" can't put the person after 生气 — split the word (生…的气) or use 对.
❌ 他生气我。
Wrong — 生气 is separable. Say 生我的气 or 对我生气.
✅ 他生我的气了。
tā shēng wǒ de qì le
He's angry at me.
2. Using 是 alone for 'be born.' English "was born" tempts you to reach for 是, but Chinese needs the verb 出生 (you may keep the 是…的 frame around it).
❌ 我是1990年在北京。
Incomplete — 是 isn't 'born'. You need the verb 出生: 是…出生的.
✅ 我是1990年在北京出生的。
wǒ shì yī jiǔ jiǔ líng nián zài Běijīng chūshēng de
I was born in Beijing in 1990.
3. Adding 很 to 生病. 生病 is a verb ("fall ill"), not an adjective — it doesn't take degree adverbs like 很.
❌ 我今天很生病。
Wrong — 生病 is a verb; say 生病了, not 很生病.
✅ 我今天生病了。
wǒ jīntiān shēngbìng le
I've fallen ill today.
4. Using 生 for 'grow up.' A child growing is 长 (zhǎng); 生 is "be born / produce," not "get bigger."
❌ 孩子今年生了不少。
Wrong verb — a child growing taller/older is 长, not 生.
✅ 孩子今年长高了不少。
háizi jīnnián zhǎng gāo le bùshǎo
The child has grown quite a bit taller this year.
Key Takeaways
- 生 centers on life coming into being: give birth (生孩子), and — from the same root — developing a condition (生病, 生气, 生锈).
- One's own birth is 出生; the mother is the one who 生.
- 生病 and 生气 are separable — "angry at me" is 生我的气 or 对我生气, never *生气我.
- As an adjective, 生 = raw / unripe / unfamiliar (生肉, 陌生); its opposite is 熟.
- 生 seeds a big vocabulary — 学生, 生日, 生活, 医生 — where it's often neutral-toned in trailing position.
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