Healthy Living in Chinese 健康生活
jiànkāng shēnghuó
Healthy living in Chinese is 健康生活 (jiàn kāng shēng huó).
Also searched for as: healthy lifestyle, healthy, diet and exercise.
How do you stay well? 15 essential healthy living words in Mandarin Chinese, with pinyin and English. Open it in the app to hear each word, tick off the ones you know and turn them into flashcards.
The word for healthy in Chinese is 健康 (jiàn kāng), and a healthy lifestyle is 健康生活 (jiàn kāng shēng huó). Chinese health advice is famously practical: 多喝水 (duō hē shuǐ), drink more water, is said so often that it has become a gentle joke, and 早睡早起 (zǎo shuì zǎo qǐ), early to bed and early to rise, is classic parental wisdom. These words help you talk about exercise, diet and habits, from 锻炼 (duàn liàn), working out, to 戒烟 (jiè yān), quitting smoking.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 健康 | jiàn kāng | healthy; health |
| 锻炼 | duàn liàn | to exercise |
| 多喝水 | duō hē shuǐ | drink more water |
| 营养 | yíng yǎng | nutrition |
| 蔬菜 | shū cài | vegetables |
| 早睡早起 | zǎo shuì zǎo qǐ | early to bed, early to rise |
| 戒烟 | jiè yān | to quit smoking |
| 少喝酒 | shǎo hē jiǔ | drink less alcohol |
| 体检 | tǐ jiǎn | health check-up |
| 步数 | bù shù | step count |
| 保持 | bǎo chí | to keep; to maintain |
| 习惯 | xí guàn | habit |
| 吃得健康 | chī de jiàn kāng | to eat healthily |
| 身材 | shēn cái | figure; build |
| 精神 | jīng shen | energy; vigour |
Usage tips
- 锻炼 (duàn liàn) is the everyday word for working out, often as 锻炼身体 (duàn liàn shēn tǐ), keeping fit; 运动 (yùn dòng) is also common and covers sport in general.
- 体检 (tǐ jiǎn) is a full health check-up, which many employers in China arrange once a year; a quick look by a doctor is just 检查 (jiǎn chá).
- 精神 (jīng shen) with a neutral tone means lively or full of energy, as in 你今天很精神; read jīng shén, it means spirit or mind.
Common mistakes
- Learners put 多 or 少 after the verb, as in 吃多蔬菜; in advice they go first: 多吃蔬菜 (duō chī shū cài), eat more vegetables, and 少喝酒 (shǎo hē jiǔ), drink less.
- 身材 (shēn cái) is someone's figure, so 她身材很好 is a comment on looks, not health; to say someone is healthy use 身体很好 (shēn tǐ hěn hǎo).
Mini dialogue
- A你最近好精神啊！Nǐ zuì jìn hǎo jīng shen a!You're looking full of energy lately!
- B我每天早上锻炼，还戒烟了。Wǒ měi tiān zǎo shang duàn liàn, hái jiè yān le.I exercise every morning, and I've given up smoking.
- A真棒！我也想养成好习惯。Zhēn bàng! Wǒ yě xiǎng yǎng chéng hǎo xí guàn.Brilliant! I'd like to get into some good habits too.
- B先从早睡早起开始吧，多喝水，多吃蔬菜。Xiān cóng zǎo shuì zǎo qǐ kāi shǐ ba, duō hē shuǐ, duō chī shū cài.Start with early nights and early mornings, more water and more vegetables.
Example sentences
- 身体健康最重要。Good health is what matters most.
- 我每天锻炼一个小时。I exercise for an hour every day.
- 多喝水对身体好。Drinking more water is good for you.
- 早餐要有营养。Breakfast should be nutritious.
- 多吃蔬菜。Eat more vegetables.
- 我们要早睡早起。We should go to bed early and get up early.
- 他终于戒烟了。He finally quit smoking.
- 医生让他少喝酒。The doctor told him to drink less.
- 公司每年安排体检。The company arranges a check-up every year.
- 我今天的步数超过了一万。My step count went over ten thousand today.
- 保持好心情。Stay positive.
- 这是一个好习惯。That's a good habit.
- 我想吃得健康一点儿。I want to eat a bit more healthily.
- 她身材很好。She's in great shape.
- 你今天很有精神。You look full of energy today.
Practise speaking
Ready to use these words? The Healthy living speaking island has 8 everyday questions about healthy living to prepare your own answers to.