How to Say “I cannot breathe” in Chinese
Emergencies and health · HSK 4
"I cannot breathe" in Chinese is 我喘不过气来。 (Wǒ chuǎn bù guò qì lái.). 喘不过气来 is the natural spoken way Chinese people describe being unable to catch their breath; it uses the potential complement 不过来 (bù guòlái) meaning 'can't manage to.' 呼吸困难 (hūxī kùnnán, difficulty breathing) is what doctors write on charts.
Primary translation
我喘不过气来。
Wǒ chuǎn bù guò qì lái.
Traditional: 我喘不過氣來。
Variants by register
Formal
我呼吸困难，请立刻叫救护车。
Wǒ hūxī kùnnán, qǐng lìkè jiào jiùhùchē.
Casual
我没法呼吸！
Wǒ méi fǎ hūxī!
When to use it
喘不过气来 is the natural spoken way Chinese people describe being unable to catch their breath; it uses the potential complement 不过来 (bù guòlái) meaning 'can't manage to.' 呼吸困难 (hūxī kùnnán, difficulty breathing) is what doctors write on charts. In a real emergency, 120 is the ambulance number in Mainland China (119 is fire, 110 is police, 122 is traffic). Beijing and Shanghai have English-speaking 120 dispatchers, but don't count on it; keep it short: 救命！呼吸困难！and your 地址 (dìzhǐ, address).
Example sentences
我喘不过气来，可能是哮喘发作了。
Wǒ chuǎn bù guò qì lái, kěnéng shì xiàochuǎn fāzuò le.
I can't breathe, it might be an asthma attack.
他突然呼吸困难，赶快打120！
Tā tūrán hūxī kùnnán, gǎnkuài dǎ yāo'èr líng!
He suddenly can't breathe, quickly call 120!
烟太大了，我都快喘不过气了。
Yān tài dà le, wǒ dōu kuài chuǎn bù guò qì le.
There's too much smoke, I can barely breathe.