🚧 ToneDeck is in active development - tap to share feedback

生活 (shēnghuó) — Life in Mandarin

shēnghuó
Life

🔊 Tap to hear it

#156 most common word · HSK 4 · CEFR B1

Pinyin colour key: tone 1 (high flat), tone 2 (rising), tone 3 (dipping), tone 4 (falling), neutral.

Tone breakdown

生活 is pronounced shēnghuó. Tap any syllable’s row to hear the whole word.

shē
first tone (high & flat, ˉ)
nghuó
second tone (rising, ˊ)

In a sentence

Wǒ hěn xiǎngshòu xiànzài de shēnghuó.

I really enjoy my current life.

Hear it, then say it right

Reading pinyin only gets you halfway. ToneDeck plays native audio for 生活 and thousands more words, then scores your pronunciation so your tones land. HSK 1 is free, no install.

Start free

Frequently asked questions

What does 生活 mean?+

生活 (shēnghuó) means "Life" in Mandarin Chinese.

How do you pronounce 生活?+

生活 is pronounced shēnghuó. It uses the tone 1 (high flat), then the tone 2 (rising). Tap the character on this page to hear native audio.

How common is 生活 in Mandarin?+

生活 is the #156 most frequent word in spoken Mandarin, so it is one of the first words worth learning.

Where 生活 fits

HSK 4 · CEFR B1
See the full HSK 4 vocabulary list

Every HSK 4 word with tone-coloured pinyin and audio.

Words at a similar frequency

Master the tones first

Now on iPhone · Android coming soon

ToneDeck is on the App Store. The trainer works right now.

Download ToneDeck for iPhone today, and your progress syncs across every device. Prefer the browser? The full tone trainer runs at tonedeck.app right now, no install, free to start.

Download on theApp Store
Coming soon toGoogle Play
Sign up free and start training

Browse more on the Mandarin vocabulary hub, or read how to learn Mandarin tones.