Chinese word

息息相关

Pronunciation

Pinyinxī xī xiāng guān

Meaning

  • idiombe closely related

Example

环境保护和经济发展息息相关。huán jìng bǎo hù hé jīng jì fā zhǎn xī xī xiāng guān

Environmental protection and economic development are closely related.

Illustration for 息息相关 (be closely related)

More examples

教育改革与学生未来息息相关。jiào yù gǎi gé yǔ xué shēng wèi lái xī xī xiāng guān

Educational reform is closely related to students' future.

Core concept

Two things fit so tightly together that each must be understood with the other.

Common phrases

  • 与息息相关yǔ xī xī xiāng guān

    be closely related to

  • 息息相关的问题xī xī xiāng guān de wèn tí

    closely related issue

  • 息息相关的利益xī xī xiāng guān de lì yì

    closely related interests

Similar words

密不可分mì bù kě fēn: Be connected so closely that separating the two is impossible.
息息相通xī xī xiāng tōng: Have thoughts and feelings that pass easily between both sides.
休戚相关xiū qī xiāng guān: Share the same fate through linked joys and sorrows.

Definition in Chinese

常用来表示两件事物关系非常紧密，往往无法把两者分开单独考虑。cháng yòng lái biǎo shì liǎng jiàn shì wù guān xì fēi cháng jǐn mì wáng wǎng wú fǎ bǎ liáng zhě fēn kāi dān dú kǎo lǜ

Word origin

息 (xī, "breath") + 息 (xī, "breath") evokes every breath, while 相 (xiāng, "mutual") + 关 (guān, "connection") presents the two things as linked in one shared bond.

Usage tips

  • In conversational sentences, two noun phrases often come before the idiom, joined by 和 (hé, "and") or 与 (yǔ, "and"), so the idiom comments on their relationship rather than either one alone.

Other meanings

  • be inseparableidiom
  • be tightly linkedidiom

Opposites

  • 毫不相关háo bù xiāng guānbe completely unrelatedidiom
  • 毫不相干háo bù xiāng gānhave nothing to do withidiom

Word lists with this word