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一生

yī shēng
HSK 3.0 Level 4 Noun Common

Definitions

  1. 1. all one's life; throughout one's life

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Word relationships

Register variants

1 item
终生
zhōng shēng

throughout one's life

Similar to 终身 but used in broader contexts, slightly less formal.

Synonyms

3 items
一辈子
yī bèi zi

(for) a lifetime

Used interchangeably in most contexts, but 一辈子 is slightly more colloquial.
终身
zhōng shēn

lifelong

Often used in formal or legal contexts (e.g., 终身成就奖 lifetime achievement award).
毕生
bì shēng

all one's life

Literary or formal, emphasizes dedication of one's entire life (e.g., 毕生精力).

Usage notes

Collocations

Commonly paired with 的 to modify nouns, as in 一生的事业 (lifelong career), not *一生事业.

Common mistakes

一生 is a noun and cannot be used as an adverb. To say 'for life', use 一辈子 or 终生 as an adverbial complement.

Example Sentences

4 shown
他 一生 追求名利。
He pursued fame and profit all his life.
他 一生 都在探求真理。
He spent his whole life seeking truth.
他为梦想奋斗了 一生 。
He struggled for his dream all his life.
他 一生 獨身。
Source: Tatoeba.org (ID 846335)

Sentence data courtesy of Tatoeba.org. AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

Words Containing 一生

一生一世
yī shēng yī shì

a whole lifetime (idiom); all my life

九死一生
jiǔ sǐ yī shēng

nine deaths and still alive (idiom); a narrow escape

科学技术是第一生产力
kē xué jì shù shì dì yī shēng chǎn lì

science and technology is the number one productive force (from a 1978 speech by Deng Xiaoping 鄧小平|邓小平[dèng xiǎo píng] introducing the Four Modernizations 四個現代化|四个现代化[sì ge xiàn dài huà])

Child Words of 一生

一
yī

one

生
shēng

to be born