Chinese word

睡着

Pronunciation

Pinyinshuì zháo

Meaning

  • verbfall asleep

Example

孩子一会儿就睡着了。hái zi yí huìr jiù shuì zháo le

The child soon fell asleep.

Illustration for 睡着 (fall asleep)

More examples

晚上太累，他一躺下就睡着了。wǎn shàng tài lèi tā yì tǎng xià jiù shuì zháo le

He was very tired at night, so he fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

Core concept

The moment wakefulness gives way to sleep, with the focus on crossing the boundary rather than on the full period of rest.

Common phrases

  • 一躺下就睡着yì tǎng xià jiù shuì zháo

    fall asleep right after lying down

Similar words

睡觉shuì jiào: Sleep to rest the body over a period of time.
入睡rù shuì: Start sleeping by moving into the state of sleep.
打盹dá dǔn: Doze for a short time, with the sleep sometimes becoming deep.

Definition in Chinese

指开始进入睡眠的瞬间或短时间内入睡的状态，侧重入睡这一变化过程。zhǐ kāi shǐ jìn rù shuì mián de shùn jiān huò duǎn shí jiān nèi rù shuì de zhuàng tài cè zhòng rù shuì zhè yí biàn huà guò chéng

Word origin

睡 (shuì, "sleep") + 着 (zháo, "reach the intended state") forms a result-focused expression for reaching the state of sleep.

Usage tips

  • In a family or shared-room setting, the word helps report that a person is now asleep without claiming how long the sleep will last.

Other meanings

  • doze offverb
  • sleep deeplyverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word