指甲
/ʈ͡ʂɻ̩²¹⁴ d͡ʑ̥i̯ä⁴/
In Chinese, nails is translated as 指甲.
The term 指甲 is used to refer to nails. In colloquial speech, you may hear the term 爪子, which literally translates to claws, used to refer to fingernails.
What does it mean word for word?
The word 指甲 is composed of 指, meaning 'finger' and 甲, meaning 'shell' or 'nail'.
How does it change in a sentence?
指甲 is a mass noun and does not change its form to indicate plurality. The same word is used for both one nail and multiple nails.
How do you pronounce it?
/ʈʂɻ̩²¹⁴ dʑ̥i̯ä⁴/
Did you know?
- In Chinese culture, long 指甲 on the thumbs of men were historically associated with scholars or the wealthy who did not perform manual labor.
- The word 甲 is used in modern Chinese to describe the 'first' party in a legal contract, such as 'Party A' 甲方.
- The character 甲 in 指甲 is the same one used in the 'Heavenly Stems', an ancient system used for dating and numbering, much like the zodiac.
Examples in context
- 不要再咬指甲了。Stop biting your nails.This sentence is useful for telling someone to stop biting their 指甲.Tatoeba #1423346 by cienias, translation #501792 by darinmex
- 她有咬指甲的习惯。She has a habit of biting her nails.This sentence is useful for describing a habit of biting one's 指甲.Tatoeba #2411919 by User5120, translation #315887 by CK
- 瑪麗亞在打磨她的指甲。Mary is filing her nails.This sentence is useful for describing someone filing their 指甲.Tatoeba #10369278 by DaoSeng, translation #3492696 by Hybrid
- 我要修指甲，因为我的爪子太长了。I need to trim my nails because my claws are too long.
- 他总是咬指甲，这是一种不好的习惯。He always bites his nails. It's a bad habit.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
A young woman and man are looking at her hands.
- 梓涵 Zihan我的指甲斷了。Wǒ de zhǐjia duàn le.My nail broke.
- 俊杰 Junjie你的指甲看起來很漂亮。Nǐ de zhǐjia kàn qǐlái hěn piàoliang.Your nails look very beautiful.
- 梓涵 Zihan謝謝，我剛塗了指甲油。Xièxiè, wǒ gāng tú le zhǐjia yóu.Thanks, I just applied nail polish.
- 俊杰 Junjie顏色真的很適合你。Yánsè zhēn de hěn shìhé nǐ.The color really suits you.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 指甲, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
