冷靜下來 / 冷静下来
lěngjìng xiàlai
To say "calm down" in Chinese, you can use 冷靜下來 / 冷静下来 (lěngjìng xiàlai) or 平靜下來 / 平静下来 depending on the context.
Meaning: To become less excited (verb)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 冷靜下來 / 冷静下来 | lěngjìng xiàlai |
| 平靜下來 / 平静下来 | píngjìng xiàlai |
The phrase is used to describe the process of becoming less excited. When you want to tell someone to calm down a bit in an informal setting, you can say 冷静一点 or 冷靜點. If someone is getting too worked up, you might say 别激动 to tell them "don't get excited" or 放松一点 to tell them to "relax a little".
Which one should you use?
Use 冷靜下來 when referring to a person regaining their composure or rational thinking during an emotional outburst. Use 平靜下來 when referring to the settling of physical things, such as waves, wind or a noisy atmosphere.
How does it change in a sentence?
To indicate that the state of calming down has already been achieved, you can add 了 to the end of the phrase, such as in 冷靜下來了 (has calmed down).
How do you pronounce it?
lěngjìng xiàlai
Did you know?
- While English speakers say 'calm down' to soothe someone, telling a Chinese speaker to 冷静 can sometimes sound like a command to 'stop being irrational', which may actually frustrate them more.
- In Chinese culture, being 'too hot' is often associated with emotional instability, so 'calming down' involves returning to a 'cool' or 'cold' state.
- The term 激动 (jīdòng) in the phrase 别激动 can also mean 'to be moved' in an emotional sense, such as being touched by a beautiful song or a kind gesture.
Example sentences for Chinese are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “calm down” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
