起床
to get up; get out of bed
qǐchuáng
What does 起床 mean?
起床 (qǐchuáng) means 'to get up' — specifically, to get out of bed in the morning (or after a nap). It is a verb-object compound: 起 ('to rise') + 床 ('bed'), literally 'rise from bed.' Because 床 is already the object, you cannot add another object after it — you say 我七点起床 ('I get up at seven'), never 起床床 or 起床我. To say 'get up early / late,' put 早 or 晚 after the compound: 起床很早, or use the adverb before: 早起. Distinguish it from 起来 (qǐlái, 'to stand up / get up' from any position, not necessarily bed) and 醒 (xǐng, 'to wake up' — eyes open, but you may still be lying in bed).
Character breakdown
to rise; to get up
bed
Memory hook: 起 (rise) + 床 (bed) = rise from bed. Literal and easy.
Example sentences
我每天七点起床。
Wǒ měi tiān qī diǎn qǐchuáng.
I get up at seven every day.
neutral
你今天几点起床的？
Nǐ jīntiān jǐ diǎn qǐchuáng de?
What time did you get up today?
spoken
周末我喜欢晚一点起床。
Zhōumò wǒ xǐhuan wǎn yìdiǎn qǐchuáng.
On weekends I like to get up a little later.
spoken
快起床，要迟到了！
Kuài qǐchuáng, yào chídào le!
Hurry, get up — you're going to be late!
spoken
Common phrases with 起床
Synonyms
起来 means 'to get up / stand up' from any position — chair, floor, ground. Use 起床 only when leaving the bed; use 起来 for sitting up, standing up, or rising more generally.
醒 is 'to wake up' (eyes open, mind on). You can be 醒了 but still in bed for 30 minutes before you 起床. English collapses both into 'wake up / get up.'
Don't confuse 起床 with
睡觉 is 'to go to sleep / to sleep,' the opposite action. Both are verb-object compounds (睡 + 觉, 起 + 床) so they share the same grammar shape.
起飞 ('to take off,' for planes) shares the 起 character but the object is 飞 ('fly'), not 床. Don't mix them up because of the shared first character.