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挨家挨户 (āi jiā āi hù) — door-to-door, from house to house (as an adverbial phrase)

Definition

A set phrase meaning 'from door to door, every household' — emphasizes going to each home in turn, one by one. Often used in written or formal contexts like official notices or community work.

phrase
door-to-doorfrom house to house (as an adverbial phrase)

Examples

  • 挨家挨户。
    Tuī xiāo yuán āi jiā āi hù dì wèn yǒu méi yǒu rén xū yào mǎi bǎo xiǎn.
    The salesperson went door-to-door asking if anyone needed to buy insurance.
  • 挨家挨户。
    Jū wěi huì āi jiā āi hù dì tōng zhī dà jiā míng tiān yào tíng shuǐ.
    The neighborhood committee notified everyone door-to-door that the water would be cut off tomorrow.
  • 挨家挨户。
    Jǐng chá āi jiā āi hù dì fā bù shī zōng lǎo rén de zhào piàn.
    The police went door-to-door distributing photos of the missing elderly person.

Origin

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
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
矣
矣yǐ挨āi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

挨 pairs 扌, the hand form 手, with 矣, which gives the sound.

Open 挨 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
矣
矣yǐ挨āi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

挨 pairs 扌, the hand form 手, with 矣, which gives the sound.

Open 挨 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 戶; 户 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 戶 is a picture of half of a gate. The simplified 户 is a later shorthand, so its shape should not be read as the original parts.

Open 户 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Idioms & Set Phrases

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