to be born
HSK level
出生 is written with 10 strokes (出: 5, 生: 5). The animation replays automatically.
出生 (chūshēng) is a verb meaning 'to be born,' referring to the event of coming into the world.
It combines 出 ('to come out') and 生 ('to be born / life'), literally 'to come out into life.' It is neutral in register and standard for stating when or where someone was born. A key difference from English: in Chinese, the person is the subject and 出生 is active, so you say 我出生在北京 or 我1990年出生 ('I was born in 1990') — there is no passive 'was born.'
It commonly pairs with a time or place: 出生于 (born in, more formal), 出生日期 (date of birth), 出生地 (birthplace). Do not confuse it with 生 alone, which can mean a mother 'giving birth to' a child (她生了一个女孩), whereas 出生 describes the child's own coming into being.
Character by character
Memory hook: To 'come out' (出) into 'life' (生) — to be born.
我1995年出生。
Wǒ yī jiǔ jiǔ wǔ nián chūshēng.
I was born in 1995.
neutral
你出生在哪个城市？
Nǐ chūshēng zài nǎge chéngshì?
Which city were you born in?
spoken
请填写你的出生日期。
Qǐng tiánxiě nǐ de chūshēng rìqī.
Please fill in your date of birth.
written
这个孩子刚出生几天。
Zhège háizi gāng chūshēng jǐ tiān.
This baby was born just a few days ago.
neutral
生 alone often means a mother 'gives birth' (她生了个孩子), taking the baby as object. 出生 describes the baby's own being born, with the person as subject. 妈妈生了我 vs 我出生了。
出身 (chūshēn) means one's family or social background/origins, e.g. 出身农村 ('of rural background'). 出生 is the physical event of being born. Same pinyin base, different second character and meaning.
Acquire it by listening
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