剩 (shèng): to remain, to be left, to have as remainder
剩 (shèng) is a Chinese character meaning “to remain.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 乘 (phonetic) and 刂 (semantic). It ranks #1437 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 剩 knife. Its radical form 刂 (knife) appears in many related characters such as 分 (fēn, to divide), 别 (bié, to leave), 到 (dào, to reach).
Definitions
- to remain
- to be left
- to have as remainder
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 剩 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 剩
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 剩下verb | shèng xià | to remain |
| 剩菜noun | shèng cài | leftovers (food) |
| 过剩verb | guò shèng | to be excessive |
| 所剩无几phrase | suǒ shèng wú jǐ | there is not much left |
| 剩饭noun | shèng fàn | leftover food |
| 残羹剩饭phrase | cán gēng shèng fàn | leftovers from a meal |
| 剩余价值noun | shèng yú jià zhí | (economics) surplus value |
| 中国剩余定理noun | zhōng guó shèng yú dìng lǐ | Chinese remainder theorem (math.) |
| 剩余定理 | shèng yú dìng lǐ | the Remainder Theorem |
| 剩余放射性 | shèng yú fàng shè xìng | residual radioactivity |
| 剩女noun | shèng nǚ | (coll.) "leftover woman" – a woman who remains single beyond the typical marrying age |
| 剩男noun | shèng nán | (coll.) "leftover man" – a man who remains single beyond the typical marrying age |
| 剩钱 | shèng qián | to have money left |
| 余剩verb | yú shèng | (literary) to remain |
| 残茶剩饭phrase | cán chá shèng fàn | see 殘羹剩飯|残羹剩饭 |
剩 appears in 18 compound words: 67 as the first character, 11 as the last, and 22 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 剩 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Example Sentences
剩下的食物请放进冰箱里，不要浪费。
Shèng xià de shíwù qǐng fàng jìn bīngxiāng lǐ, bùyào làngfèi.
Please put the remaining food in the refrigerator; don't waste it.
...憧憬再通胀 内房消费股看涨 瑞银:产能过剩改善 反内卷奏效
. . . chōng jǐng zài tōng zhàng nèi fáng xiāo fèi gǔ kàn zhǎng ruì yín : chǎn néng guò shèng gǎi shàn fǎn nèi juǎn zòu xiào
... Looking forward to re-inflation, domestic real estate consumer stocks are bullish UBS: Overcapacity improvement and anti-involution worked
公立國中只剩窮人與8+9?私校門檻曝光 兩派網友掀論...
gōng lì 國 zhōng zhī shèng 窮 rén 與 ? sī jiào 門 檻 pù guāng 兩 pài 網 yǒu xiān 論 . . .
Public middle schools left with only the poor and troublemakers? Private school admission standards revealed, sparking heated debate among two camps of netizens...
年节热闹散去43人团圆剩祖母身影 中国女子感慨:热闹过后难免孤寂
nián jié rè nào sàn qù rén tuán yuán shèng zǔ mǔ shēn yǐng zhōng guó nǚ zǐ gǎn kǎi rè nào guò hòu nán miǎn gū jì
As the festive bustle fades, 43 family members gather, leaving only the grandmother's figure. A Chinese woman reflects: After the excitement, loneliness inevitably sets in.
頭獎2000萬刮刮樂「剩6幸運兒」 中了直接免開工
頭 獎 萬 guā guā 樂 shèng xìng 運 兒 zhōng le zhí jiē miǎn 開 gōng
Scratch-off Lottery with $20 Million Top Prize: "Only 6 Lucky Winners Left" Winners Get an Immediate Holiday Break
過年年菜吃不完!3招簡單清冰箱 剩菜新吃法一次看
過 nián nián cài chī bù wán ! zhāo 簡 單 qīng bīng xiāng shèng cài xīn chī fǎ yī cì kàn
3 Simple Moves to Clear the Fridge: A Look at New Ways to Eat Leftovers
还剩下多少块三明治？
Hái shèngxià duōshao kuài sānmíngzhì?
How many sandwiches are there left?
告诉我，我还剩下什么？
Gàosu wǒ, wǒ hái shèngxià shénme?
Tell me, what else do I have left?
由于产量过剩，卷心菜的价格下降了。
Yóuyú chǎnliàng guòshèng, juǎnxīncài de jiàgé xiàjiàng le.
The price of cabbage fell because of overproduction.
她瘦得只剩皮包骨了。
Tā shòu de zhǐ shèng píbāo gǔ le.
She is all skin and bone.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 刂 (knife) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 剩 (shèng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 剩 and 行?
How many strokes does 剩 have?
What is the radical of 剩?
What are the components of 剩?
What are common words containing 剩?
What characters sound the same as 剩 (shèng)?
Is 剩 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 剩 with real-time feedback
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