Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 安靜 / 安静 | ānjìng |
| 寧靜 / 宁静 | níngjìng |
The term is used to describe a state or environment with little sound. You can use the polite phrase 請安靜 to ask a group of people to be quiet, such as in a library or classroom. If you want to tell someone to become quiet or to settle down, you can use the verb phrase 靜下來.
Which one should you use?
While 安靜 / 安静 refers to a lack of noise, 寧靜 / 宁静 is a more formal or literary term used to describe a sense of profound peace or tranquility, often applied to landscapes or a person's state of mind.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Cantonese, used in Hong Kong and parts of Guangdong, you can use 安靜 or the shorter form 靜. In Taiwanese Hokkien, 無聲 is used to emphasize making no sound.
How does it change in a sentence?
When using the adjective 安靜 to describe a state, it is common to place an adverb of degree like 很 (hěn, very) before it, such as in 很安靜, even if you do not intend to emphasize the intensity of the quietness.
How do you pronounce it?
ānjìng
Did you know?
- In certain martial arts contexts, achieving a state of 靜 (stillness) is considered a physical skill that allows a practitioner to sense an opponent's movement through the silence of the environment.
- The character 安 in 安靜 means 'safe' or 'peaceful'. This suggests that true quietness is a state of being secure and undisturbed, rather than just the absence of a loud noise.
- In many Chinese dialects, the concept of 'quiet' is not just about volume, but about 'order'. To be 'quiet' in a classroom often implies that the students are behaving and following rules, not just making no sound.
Examples in context
- 请保持安静。Please be quiet.
- 这个地方很安静。This place is very quiet.
- 请安静点。Please be a bit quieter.
- 影院里要求观众安静点。The cinema asks the audience to be a little quieter.
- 请你小声一点说。Please speak a little quieter.
- 请别吵闹，让我们保持安静。Please don't be noisy, let's keep quiet.
- 在考试期间，大家都需要保持安静。During the exam period, everyone needs to be quiet.
- 要去的图书馆是个安静的地方。The library we're going to is a quiet place.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “quiet” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
