Chinese word

跟

Pronunciation

Pinyingēn

Meaning

  • prepositionwith

Example

我跟你一起去。wǒ gēn nǐ yì qǐ qù

I go with you.

Illustration for 跟 (with)

More examples

孩子跟朋友玩。hái zi gēn péng yǒu wán

The child plays with friends.

Core concept

A person moves alongside another person, linking both to the same action.

Common phrases

  • 跟你一起gēn nǐ yì qǐ

    together with you

  • 跟她说话gēn tā shuō huà

    speak with her

  • 跟老师学习gēn lǎo shī xué xí

    learn from the teacher

Similar words

和hé: Places a person before the verb to show shared action in a warm, everyday way.
与yǔ: Places a person before the verb to show shared action in formal, written language.

Definition in Chinese

作介词，置于动词前，表示与某人或某物一起行动或一同做某事。zuò jiè cí zhì yú dòng cí qián biǎo shì yǔ mǒu rén huò mǒu wù yì qǐ xíng dòng huò yì tóng zuò mǒu shì

Word origin

跟 (gēn, "with; follow") first referred to the heel, then to following close behind, which naturally extended to marking a companion in the same action.

Usage tips

  • In English, the companion phrase usually follows the action, but this Chinese word comes before the action verb, making word order the key difference.

Other meanings

  • followverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word