刷牙

• Pinyin: shuā yá
• Hanzi breakdown: 刷 = 尸 + 巾 + 刂, meaning to brush; 牙 = pictograph of interlocking teeth

Meaning

To brush one's teeth. A daily hygiene routine.

A verb-object compound meaning to brush teeth. One of the most common daily activities mentioned in Chinese. Typically done twice a day, morning and night. The phrase cannot be separated in normal usage.

Examples

1. 你每天早上起来第一件事是刷牙吗？ Is brushing your teeth the first thing you do every morning?
2. 医生建议我们每天至少刷牙两次。 Doctors recommend that we brush our teeth at least twice a day.
3. 小孩子要从小养成刷牙的好习惯。 Children should develop the good habit of brushing their teeth from a young age.

Usage Guide

Context: everyday, health

Tone: casual

Do Say

• 快去刷牙，马上要出门了。(Go brush your teeth quickly; we're about to leave.)
• 睡觉前一定要记得刷牙。(Be sure to remember to brush your teeth before bed.)

Don't Say

• 我要去刷一下牙齿。(While grammatical, 刷牙齿 sounds redundant — just say 刷牙. The word 牙 already means teeth.)

Origin & History

Verb-object compound of 刷 (to brush) and 牙 (tooth/teeth), literally 'brush teeth.'

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal