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行得通 (xíng dé tōng) — to be feasible, to work, to be viable

Definition

行得通 (xíng dé tōng) is a result complement meaning 'feasible, will work in practice' — used to judge whether a plan, method, or idea is workable, not just theoretically possible.

verb
to be feasibleto workto be viable

Examples

  • 行得通，。
    Zhè ge fāng àn xíng dé tōng, wǒ men kāi shǐ zuò ba.
    This plan is feasible; let's start working on it.
  • 行得通？
    Nǐ jué de tā de xiǎng fǎ xíng dé tōng ma?
    Do you think his idea is viable?
  • ，行得通。
    Jīng guò tǎo lùn, dà jiā dōu rèn wéi zhè ge bàn fǎ xíng dé tōng.
    After discussion, everyone agreed that this method is workable.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →

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

The old form 㝵 showed a hand picking up a cowry, meaning to obtain; later changes turned that picture into 得.

Open 得 →

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
甬
甬yǒng通tōng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

通 pairs 辶, a part associated with movement, with 甬, which gives the sound.

Open 通 →
Appears in
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