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相继 (xiāng jì) — in succession; one after another

Definition

相继 marks events happening one after another, often from the same group or in quick order, similar to 陆续 and 接连 but used for actions that follow closely without interruption.

adverb
in successionone after another

Examples

  • 相继。
    Wǒ men bān tóng xué xiāng jì bì yè le.
    The students in our class graduated one after another.
  • 相继。
    Zhè jǐ jiā gōng sī xiāng jì xuān bù pò chǎn.
    These several companies announced bankruptcy in succession.
  • 相继。
    Gōng yuán lǐ de huā xiāng jì kāi fàng.
    The flowers in the park bloomed one after another.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

相xiāngmutual/successive
继jìcontinue

相 carries a sense of mutual or successive action, and 继 adds continuing, giving one following another.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 相, 目 is an eye and 木 is a tree, showing an eye looking at a tree; this originally meant “to observe.”

Open 相 →

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 繼; 继 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìrope
Sound part声符shēngfú
㡭
㡭㡭繼jì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 繼 pairs 糸 (rope) with 㡭 as a sound part; an older form may have shown four silk strands. The simplified 继 is only a later shorthand.

Open 继 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Order & Arrangement

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