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偷走 (tōu zǒu) — to steal (and carry away); to make off with

Definition

A separable verb meaning 'to steal and walk away with' — 偷 covers the theft, 走 adds the 'take it away' action. The two halves often split with a direct object (偷了一个手机) or move to 把 / 被 constructions.

verb
to steal (and carry away)to make off with

Examples

  • 偷走。
    Wǒ de qián bāo bèi rén tōu zǒu le.
    My wallet was stolen by someone.
  • 偷走。
    Tā tōu zǒu le yí gè shǒu jī.
    He stole a mobile phone.
  • 偷走。
    Xiǎo tōu tōu zǒu le diàn lǐ de guì zhòng wù pǐn.
    The thief stole the valuable items from the store.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

偷tōusteal
走zǒugo away

偷 means steal and 走 means go away, describing taking something off with you.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
俞
俞yú偷tōu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 亻, a standing person, points to the idea of someone doing the act, while the right part 俞 gives the character its sound.

Open 偷 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The original shape showed a running man, with a foot added later.

Open 走 →
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