Chinese word

一起

Pronunciation

Pinyinyī qǐ

Meaning

  • adverbtogether

Example

我们一起去吃饭。wǒ men yì qǐ qù chī fàn

We are going to eat together.

Illustration for 一起 (together)

More examples

孩子们一起玩。hái zi men yì qǐ wán

The children play together.

Core concept

Separate people or actions come into one shared moment instead of happening separately.

Common phrases

  • 一起去yì qǐ qù

    go together

  • 一起吃饭yì qǐ chī fàn

    eat together

  • 一起玩yì qǐ wán

    play together

Similar words

一块儿yí kuàir: In everyday speech, together with another person or group while doing something.

Definition in Chinese

表示两人或多人共同进行某动作或活动，强调一起做某事，常用作副词。biǎo shì liǎng rén huò duō rén gòng tóng jìn xíng mǒu dòng zuò huò huó dòng qiáng diào yì qǐ zuò mǒu shì cháng yòng zuò fù cí

Word origin

一起 (yīqǐ, "together") combines 一 (yī, "one") with 起 (qǐ, "rise; start"), giving a picture of people or actions starting and proceeding as one.

Usage tips

  • Chinese usually places this adverb before the verb, while English usually places together after the verb, so the two languages use different word orders.

Other meanings

  • at the same timeadverb
  • all at onceadverb

Related words

  • 一起来yì qǐ láicome togetherverb

Word lists with this word