Chinese word

天生

Pronunciation

Pinyintiān shēng

Meaning

  • adverbnaturally

Example

她天生爱笑，很可爱。tā tiān shēng ài xiào hěn kě ài

She naturally smiles a lot and is very cute.

Illustration for 天生 (naturally)

More examples

小孩天生好奇，喜欢自己探索周围的事物。xiǎo hái tiān shēng hào qí xǐ huān zì jǐ tàn suǒ zhōu wéi de shì wù

The child is naturally curious and enjoys exploring the things around them independently.

Core concept

A built-in trait or talent that comes out in a person's actions.

Common phrases

  • 天生好奇tiān shēng hào qí

    innately curious

  • 天生乐观tiān shēng lè guān

    innately optimistic

Similar words

生来shēng lái: Having a quality or tendency from birth, with it naturally showing in behavior.
与生俱来yǔ shēng jù lái: Having a quality or characteristic that is inherent from birth and remains part of one's nature.

Definition in Chinese

表示某种特质或才能是天赋的、与生俱来的，用作副词，通常放在动词或形容词前，强调先天因素。biǎo shì móu zhǒng tè zhì huò cái néng shì tiān fù de yǔ shēng jù lái de yòng zuò fù cí tōng cháng fàng zài dòng cí huò xíng róng cí qián qiáng diào xiān tiān yīn sù

Word origin

天 (tiān, "heaven") + 生 (shēng, "birth") presents a quality as given at birth, leading to its modern use for inborn traits and abilities.

Usage tips

  • The closest English adverb can describe ease or lack of effort, whereas this word points to where a quality comes from, so the two are not interchangeable in every sentence.

Opposites

Related words

  • 天生丽质tiān shēng lì zhìbeautiful by natureidiom

Word lists with this word