小心

Meaning(adjective, verb, adverbial adjective)

to be careful; to take care

Despite literally meaning "small heart", it means careful, not petty.

Examples

• 小心！前面有车。

  xiǎo xīn! qián miàn yǒu chē.

  Watch out! There's a car ahead.

• 下雨了，开车要小心。

  xià yǔ le, kāi chē yào xiǎo xīn.

  It's raining, so drive carefully.

• 她小心地把杯子放在桌子上。

  tā xiǎo xīn dì bǎ bēi zi fàng zài zhuō zi shàng.

  She carefully put the cup on the table.

Easily confused

• 注意 — 小心 stresses guarding against danger; 注意 is paying attention in general (注意身体).

Written with AI, waiting for a teacher's review.