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HSK 3

生气

to be angry; to get mad

verbneutral
生
shēng1st tone
气
qì4th tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
shēngqì
Part of speech
verb
Level
HSK 3
Strokes
9
Register
neutral

Stroke order for 生气

生气 is written with 9 strokes (生: 5, 气: 4). The animation replays automatically.

What does 生气 mean?

生气 (shēngqì) is the standard word for 'to be angry / to get mad.'

Literally 生 'produce / give rise to' + 气 'air / qi / temper' — i.e. 'to generate temper.' It is a separable verb-object compound, so things slip between the characters: 生我的气 ('be mad AT me'), 生了一会儿气 ('was mad for a while').

The preposition for the target of the anger is 跟 or 对: 我跟他生气 / 我对他生气 ('I'm mad at him'). Important: 生气 describes a passing state, not a permanent trait — for 'a hot-tempered person' use 脾气大. As a separate word, 生气 also means 'vitality / liveliness' (有生气 'full of life'), but in HSK 3 contexts it nearly always means 'angry.'

Note: Everyday word for the experience of getting angry. Use 生气 for personal anger; for furious / outraged, escalate to 愤怒 (fènnù, more formal).

Character by character

生shēngto give rise to; to produce; to be born
+
气qìair; qi; temper; anger
=
生气

Memory hook: 生 (produce) + 气 (temper) — to produce temper = get angry.

Example sentences

你怎么了？是不是生气了？

Nǐ zěnme le? Shì bu shì shēngqì le?

What's wrong? Are you angry?

spoken

妈妈生我的气了。

Māma shēng wǒ de qì le.

Mom is mad at me.

spoken

对不起，请别生气。

Duìbuqǐ, qǐng bié shēngqì.

I'm sorry — please don't be angry.

spoken

他很容易生气。

Tā hěn róngyì shēngqì.

He gets angry easily.

spoken

老板今天很生气，因为我迟到了。

Lǎobǎn jīntiān hěn shēngqì, yīnwèi wǒ chídào le.

The boss was angry today because I was late.

neutral

Common phrases with 生气

很生气hěn shēngqìvery angry
别生气bié shēngqìdon't be angry
生我的气shēng wǒ de qìto be mad at me
生气了shēngqì legot angry
跟他生气gēn tā shēngqìto be mad at him

Synonyms

气qì

Bare 气 as a verb ('to anger / be angered') is more literary or transitive: 他气我 = 'he angered me.' 生气 is the everyday intransitive 'to be angry.'

发火fāhuǒ

发火 ('set off fire') means 'to flare up / blow up at someone' — more about the visible outburst. 生气 is the inner state of being angry, with or without showing it.

Don't confuse 生气 with

客气kèqi

Both contain 气. 客气 means 'polite / formal / standing on ceremony' (别客气 = 'don't be polite, make yourself at home'). 生气 is 'angry.' Completely different.

天气tiānqì

Also contains 气. 天气 = weather. 生气 = to be angry. The 气 in Chinese carries many meanings across compounds.

Frequently asked questions

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