挨着 (āi zhe) — to be next to; to be adjacent to; to do somethi…

Definition

Two uses: physical position "next to" (我家挨着学校) and "one by one / in sequence" in the pattern 挨着 + Verb (同学们挨着走进教室).

verb

to be next toto be adjacent toto do something one by onesequentially (in pattern 挨着 + Verb)

挨着。
Wǒ de jiā āi zhe xué xiào.
My home is next to the school.
挨着。
Zhè liǎng dòng lóu shì āi zhe de.
These two buildings are adjacent.
挨着。
Tóng xué men āi zhe zǒu jìn jiào shì.
The classmates walked into the classroom one after another.

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.

扌矣挨

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

矣

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.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 著; 着 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艸艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

者

者zhě著zháo

Same sound today

The traditional form 著 puts 艸 (grass; plant) above 者, which gives the sound; the simplified 着 is a later shorthand.

Appears in