English–Chinese
“be unemployed” in Chinese
Chinese
Pronunciation
Pinyinshī yè
Example
因为公司裁员，他失业了。yīn wèi gōng sī cái yuán tā shī yè le
Because the company laid off workers, he became unemployed.
How to say “be unemployed” in Chinese
“Be unemployed” in Chinese is 失业 (shī yè).
A person stands outside the flow of paid work, with the regular income from it gone.
Example sentences with 失业
毕业后，他曾经失业了一段时间，后来通过培训找到了工作。bì yè hòu tā céng jīng shī yè le yí duàn shí jiān hòu lái tōng guò péi xùn zhǎo dào le gōng zuò
After graduation, he was unemployed for a while, but later found a job through training.
Tips for using 失业
- In everyday Chinese, the word can follow a person's name directly as the predicate, while the sentence-final change-of-state particle highlights that the condition has begun.