春眠不觉晓

春眠不覺曉

chūn mián bù jué xiǎo

quotation

Meanings

1 sleeping in spring, one does not notice dawn
2 the pleasant laziness of sleeping through a spring morning

Characters

perceive, notice

Examples

HSK 3

学生们春眠不觉晓，常常迟到。

Xuésheng men chūnmiánbùjuéxiǎo, chángcháng chídào.

The students sleep through spring dawns, often arriving late.

HSK 7-9

春天真是春眠不觉晓，闹钟都叫不醒我。

Chūntiān zhēnshì chūnmiánbùjuéxiǎo, nàozhōng dōu jiào bù xǐng wǒ.

Spring really is 'spring sleep, unaware of dawn' - even the alarm can't wake me.

Tips

history

Opening line of Meng Haoran 孟浩然的《春晓》 (Tang): 春眠不觉晓，处处闻啼鸟。夜来风雨声，花落知多少。 (In spring I sleep past dawn; everywhere I hear birdsong. Through the night came wind and rain - how many blossoms have fallen, who knows?) One of the first poems Chinese children memorise.

usage

Used both literally (spring drowsiness) and figuratively (blissful obliviousness). 晓 (xiǎo) here = dawn, not 'know.'

Stroke Order

春 chūn

眠 mián

不 bù

觉 jué

晓 xiǎo