san1 tai2 sou3 zat1身體素質身体素质
Jyutpingsan1 tai2 sou3 zat1
Yalesān tái sou jāt
Definition
Physical constitution; physique, fitness, or bodily health.
neutralhealthbody
How it's used
This term is borrowed from formal or journalistic Chinese and is primarily used in contexts involving sports, medical assessments, or professional training. It sounds quite clinical or academic compared to everyday ways of talking about health. When speaking casually about someone's general health or strength, people usually prefer using 身體底子 or simply talking about how strong someone is.
Examples
He rarely exercises, so his physical constitution is quite poor.
Do you think his physical condition is good enough to run a marathon?
Related words
Common phrases
improve physical constitution
to have a good physique
Common mistake
Learners often use this in casual conversation where it sounds overly formal or stiff. It is not a natural way to describe someone's general well-being in daily life.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
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Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
