How to Say “I am angry” in Chinese
Feelings and opinions · HSK 3
"I am angry" in Chinese is 我很生气 (wǒ hěn shēng qì). 生气 literally means 'give birth to qi/air'; anger is pictured as something rising up inside you. The particle 了 makes a big difference: 我很生气 states the current state ('I am angry'), while 我生气了 signals a change ('I've gotten angry / now I'm mad'), which is what you'd actually say mid-argument.
Primary translation
我很生气
wǒ hěn shēng qì
Traditional: 我很生氣
Variants by register
Casual
我生气了
wǒ shēng qì le
When to use it
生气 literally means 'give birth to qi/air'; anger is pictured as something rising up inside you. The particle 了 makes a big difference: 我很生气 states the current state ('I am angry'), while 我生气了 signals a change ('I've gotten angry / now I'm mad'), which is what you'd actually say mid-argument. A stronger word is 我火了 (wǒ huǒ le, I'm on fire) or 我气死了 (wǒ qì sǐ le, I'm dying from anger); both are colloquial and very common on Chinese social media. One cultural note: openly saying 我很生气 to an elder or boss is considered quite direct in China; adults often express anger more indirectly through tone and silence rather than stating it.
Example sentences
你别生气，我是开玩笑的。
Nǐ bié shēng qì, wǒ shì kāi wán xiào de.
Don't be mad, I was just joking.
听到这个消息，我气死了。
Tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xī, wǒ qì sǐ le.
When I heard the news, I was furious.
妈妈生气了，因为我没写作业。
Mā ma shēng qì le, yīn wèi wǒ méi xiě zuò yè.
Mom got angry because I didn't do my homework.