手术 (shǒushù)

手术 refers to a surgical operation performed by a doctor to treat injury or disease. It is a common medical term used in everyday conversations about health and hospitals.

Meanings

[noun] surgery; a medical operation involving incision or other physical intervention

Example Sentences

医生说他需要做手术才能康复。 Yīshēng shuō tā xūyào zuò shǒushù cái néng kāngfù. The doctor said he needs surgery in order to recover.

手术很成功，病人已经醒了。 Shǒushù hěn chénggōng, bìngrén yǐjīng xǐng le. The surgery was very successful and the patient has already woken up.

她明天早上要做心脏手术。 Tā míngtiān zǎoshang yào zuò xīnzàng shǒushù. She is having heart surgery tomorrow morning.

手术之前，医生解释了所有的风险。 Shǒushù zhīqián, yīshēng jiěshì le suǒyǒu de fēngxiǎn. Before the surgery, the doctor explained all the risks.

Collocations

Collocation	Meaning
做手术	to have / perform surgery
手术室	operating room
心脏手术	heart surgery
手术成功	successful surgery

Usage Notes

手术 is always used as a noun. To express "to undergo surgery," Chinese uses the verb-object structure 做手术 (zuò shǒushù). You can also say 动手术 (dòng shǒushù), which has the same meaning and is equally common in spoken Chinese. The word 手 (hand) + 术 (technique/art) literally means "hand technique," reflecting the skilled manual nature of surgery.

Memory Hook

Think of 手 (hand) + 术 (technique) — surgery is literally a "hand technique" performed by a skilled doctor.