Daily Routines in Chinese 日常生活

Talking about your day is usually the first real conversation a learner has, and it runs on two kinds of words: routine verbs (get up, eat, go to work, go to bed) and time words (morning, noon, today, tomorrow). This list gives you both, ending with the adverbs that string them into sentences — then, often, always.

• 48 words
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• 起床qǐ chuáng
  to get up; to get out of bed
  我刚才起床了。

  I just got up.
• 刷牙shuā yá
  to brush one's teeth
  我儿子在刷牙。

  My son is brushing his teeth.
• 洗脸xǐ liǎn
  to wash one's face
  我每天早上洗脸。

  I wash my face every morning.
• 化妆huà zhuāng
  to put on makeup
  化妆太浓的话脸会看着很奇怪。

  A face with too much make up looks strange.
• 洗澡xǐ zǎo
  to take a shower; to bathe
  我刚才在洗澡.

  I was just in the shower.
• 刮胡子guā hú zi
  to shave (one's beard)
  我每天早上刮胡子。

  I shave every morning.
• 铺床pū chuáng
  to make the bed
  我每天早上起床后都铺床。

  I make the bed every morning after getting up.
• 开灯kāi dēng
  to turn on the light
  我把书放下来然后开灯。

  I put the book down and turned on the light.
• 回家huí jiā
  to go home; to return home
  汤姆明天回家。

  Tom will return home tomorrow.
• 吃饭chī fàn
  to eat; to have a meal
  吃饭时间到了。

  Time for dinner.
• 做饭zuò fàn
  to cook (a meal)
  我们会做饭的。

  We'll cook.
• 炒菜chǎo cài
  to stir-fry; to cook a dish
  妈妈在厨房炒菜。

  Mom is stir-frying in the kitchen.
• 上班shàng bān
  to go to work; to be on duty
  你上班迟到了。

  You were late for work.
• 下班xià bān
  to get off work; to finish work
  你一般几点下班？

  When do you usually get off work?
• 放学fàng xué
  to finish school for the day
  什么时候放学？

  When is school over?
• 工作gōng zuò
  to work; job; work
  男人应该工作。

  Men should work.
• 学习xué xí
  to study; to learn
  我们学习音乐。

  We study music.
• 看书kàn shū
  to read (a book)
  汤姆正在看书。

  Tom is reading a book.
• 玩wán
  to play; to have fun
  孩子们在外面玩呢。

  The children are playing outside.
• 休息xiū xi
  to rest
  现在休息一下。

  Now you should rest a little.
• 锻炼duàn liàn
  to exercise; to work out
  他每天锻炼两次。

  He exercises twice a day.
• 跑步pǎo bù
  to run; to jog
  你每天跑步吗？

  Do you go running daily?
• 散步sàn bù
  to take a walk; to stroll
  他喜欢独自散步。

  He likes taking a walk by himself.
• 运动yùn dòng
  to do sports; sports; exercise
  运动有益健康。

  Sports are good for your health.
• 午睡wǔ shuì
  midday nap; to nap at noon
  汤姆说他需要午睡。

  Tom says he needs a nap.
• 上网shàng wǎng
  to go online; to surf the internet
  我经常上网看英文和中文的博客。

  I often read English and Chinese blogs online.
• 加班jiā bān
  to work overtime
  今天我不加班。

  I won't work overtime today.
• 迟到chí dào
  to be late; to arrive late
  你上班迟到了。

  You were late for work.
• 睡觉shuì jiào
  to sleep; to go to bed
  宝宝正在睡觉。

  The baby is sleeping.
• 时间shí jiān
  time
  时间就是金钱。

  Time is money.
• 早上zǎo shang
  early morning
  我早上不洗头。

  I don't wash my hair in the morning.
• 上午shàng wǔ
  morning (before noon)
  今天上午下雨。

  It will rain this morning.
• 中午zhōng wǔ
  noon; midday
  让她中午过来。

  Tell her to come at noon.
• 下午xià wǔ
  afternoon
  今天下午下雨。

  This afternoon it is going to rain.
• 晚上wǎn shang
  evening; night
  我们晚上锁门。

  We lock the doors at night.
• 今天jīn tiān
  today
  今天天气不错！

  The weather is fine today!
• 明天míng tiān
  tomorrow
  明天举行典礼。

  The ceremony will take place tomorrow.
• 昨天zuó tiān
  yesterday
  我昨天感冒了

  I caught a cold yesterday.
• 每天měi tiān
  every day; daily
  她几乎每天上班都迟到。

  She’s practically late for work every day.
• 现在xiàn zài
  now; at present
  现在休息一下。

  Now you should rest a little.
• 去年qù nián
  last year
  我去年退休了。

  I retired last year.
• 前年qián nián
  the year before last
  我前年去过一次北京。

  I went to Beijing once the year before last.
• 今年jīn nián
  this year
  今年夏天很冷。

  Summer is cold this year.
• 明年míng nián
  next year
  明年我回澳门。

  Next year I will return to Macao.
• 周末zhōu mò
  weekend
  她周末病倒了。

  She got sick this weekend.
• 然后rán hòu
  then; after that
  我们先吃饭，然后再走。

  First we'll eat, and then we'll go.
• 经常jīng cháng
  often; frequently
  我们经常下棋。

  We often play chess.
• 总是zǒng shì
  always
  汤姆总是旷课。

  Tom is always absent.