Chinese word

生词

Pronunciation

Pinyinshēng cí

Meaning

  • nounnew word

Example

上课时遇到不懂的生词就记下来。shàng kè shí yù dào bù dǒng de shēng cí jiù jì xià lái

When you come across a new word in class, write it down.

Illustration for 生词 (new word)

More examples

晚上我会复习生词。wǎn shàng wǒ huì fù xí shēng cí

I review new words in the evening.

Core concept

A word encountered during study that has not yet become part of the learner's usable vocabulary.

Common phrases

  • 记下生词jì xià shēng cí

    write down new words

  • 复习生词fù xí shēng cí

    review new words

  • 生词本shēng cí běn

    notebook of new words

Similar words

单词dān cí: One separate word used as a basic unit in language study.
词语cí yǔ: A meaningful word or brief phrase used in speech or writing.
生字shēng zì: A Chinese character that looks unfamiliar because its meaning or reading is unknown.
词汇cí huì: The words that make up a language, a person's vocabulary, or a field of study.

Definition in Chinese

学习过程中遇到但尚未纳入个人词汇量、需通过学习或查询才能理解和运用的词语。xué xí guò chéng zhōng yù dào dàn shàng wèi nà rù gè rén cí huì liàng xū tōng guò xué xí huò chá xún cái néng lí jiě hé yùn yòng de cí yǔ

Word origin

生词 (shēngcí, "new word") uses 生 (shēng, "unfamiliar") + 词 (cí, "word") for a word that has not yet become familiar.

Usage tips

  • A useful study record pairs each unfamiliar word with a short sentence and its common word partners, since a translation alone does not show how the word works.

Other meanings

  • word not yet learnednoun

Related words

  • 生词表shēng cí biǎolist of new wordsnoun
  • 生词本shēng cí běnnew-word notebooknoun

Word lists with this word