生活 in Context

CONGRATULATIONS! 

A NEW WORD HAS BEEN UNLOCKED

生活

Usage 1 - "to live": 

Sentence：

你生活得怎么样？

English:

How's your life?

*Sentence：

一个真的会生活的人，是一边学习和工作，一边利用玩儿来放松自己的人。

English:

Those who really know how to live are the people who not only study and work but also have fun and allow themselves to relax. 

Top-Down Words:

利用 lìyòng - to take advantage of
放松 fàngsōng - to relax

Usage 2 - "life":

Sentence：

我的生活怎么那么悲惨？

English:

How is it that my life so miserable? 

Top-Down Words:

 悲惨 bēicǎn - miserable, tragic

*Sentence：

如果你问我，学习，工作和生活哪个最重要？
(我会告诉你，我觉得它们都很重要，主要看你怎么样安排你自己的时间)

English:

If you ask me which is the most important, study, work, or life...
(...I'd tell you, I think they're all important, it's mainly about how you plan your time.)

Note: The first sentence is the beginning of a rhetorical question from a longer-form piece of content, hence why the translation for the first part doesn't make sense without the second sentence. The second sentence will come up later.

*Sentence：

他们只要过好自己的生活就好了。

English:

As long as they live their lives well, it's fine.

Need a Reminder?

The Six Steps to Learning Words

Understanding Chinese Words - Morphemes

3 Questions About Words

Member Comments from 2019-mid-2020

Do you also want to leave a comment? You can do so below！

Rick Angleland

How does 生活 compare with 过日子 and 住 in meaning?

Mandarin Blueprint

住 is the most literal and emotionless version. 生活 is more like living with someone but has elements of 'living life" i.e. not just about residing with someone, so a bit more emotion in there. 过日子 is the most evocative, meaning to ‘live life' e.g. have a content and fulfilling life with your close family.

MB Team

Here's the link to where Phil and Luke talked about this comment in the Mandarin Blueprint Podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lle0yhY52Gk&t=1585s