quiet; peaceful
HSK level
安静 is written with 20 strokes (安: 6, 静: 14). The animation replays automatically.
安静 (ānjìng) is the everyday adjective for 'quiet' — used for places (a quiet library, a quiet street), for people (a quiet child, the room went quiet), and as a polite request (请安静 'please be quiet').
It carries a gentle, positive feel of peacefulness, not just absence of noise. Two contrasts matter for English speakers: first, 安静 describes the quality of a place or person, while 静 alone is more literary and often appears in compounds; second, the related word 安全 (ānquán, 'safe') shares the character 安 but means safety, not silence — beginners mix them up.
As a verb-like predicate it works without copula: 教室很安静 ('the classroom is very quiet'). The opposite is 吵 (chǎo, noisy).
Note: Works in any register. 请安静 ('please be quiet') is the polite imperative you see on library signs and hear from teachers; for a sharper 'be quiet!' shout, use 别说话 or the casual 嘘.
Character by character
Memory hook: 安 shows a woman under a roof — peaceful at home; 静 means still. Together: peaceful stillness = quiet.
图书馆里很安静。
Túshūguǎn lǐ hěn ānjìng.
The library is very quiet.
neutral
请大家安静一下。
Qǐng dàjiā ānjìng yíxià.
Everyone, please quiet down for a moment.
polite
我想找一个安静的地方学习。
Wǒ xiǎng zhǎo yí gè ānjìng de dìfang xuéxí.
I want to find a quiet place to study.
neutral
孩子们终于安静下来了。
Háizimen zhōngyú ānjìng xiàlái le.
The kids finally quieted down.
spoken
静 alone is literary and mostly used in compounds (安静, 平静, 冷静). For everyday spoken 'quiet,' use 安静.
平静 means 'calm' — the surface of water, a person's mood, a situation. 安静 is about sound (or lack of it). A calm lake is 平静; a quiet room is 安静.
Acquire it by listening
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