How to Write 娠 (shēn) — Meaning “pregnancy; to be pregnant”

Imagine a pregnant woman (女) with a morning sun (辰) glowing in her belly, representing new life beginning. The sun helps you remember the pronunciation 'shēn' and the meaning of a growing baby.

Pay attention to the right side 辰, which has seven strokes: first a horizontal, then a left-falling, two horizontals, a vertical, a rising stroke, and finally a right-falling stroke. A common mistake is writing the rising stroke as a dot or confusing the order of the last two strokes.

娠 means pregnancy and is used in medical terms, while 妮 means 'girl' and often appears in names. 妯 refers to 'sisters-in-law' (wives of brothers). Visually, 娠 has a more complex right side (辰), whereas 妮 has 尼 and 妯 has 由.

娠 appears mainly in formal or medical words like 妊娠 (pregnancy) and 妊娠期 (gestation period). In everyday conversation, people prefer the common term 怀孕 (huái yùn), so 娠 is reserved for written or technical contexts such as hospital records.

Common words containing 娠 include: 妊娠 (rèn shēn) — Pregnancy; 妊娠期 (rèn shēn qī) — Gestation period; 娠妇 (shēn fù) — pregnant woman.