行驶 (xíng shǐ) — to travel along a route (of vehicles) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Refers to a vehicle itself moving along a road, rail, or water — the subject is the vehicle, not the driver. Pairs naturally with speed/road modifiers, unlike 驾驶 (which focuses on operating the vehicle).

verb

to travel along a route (of vehicles)

Easily confused

行使xíng shǐsound-aliketo exercise (a right, power, authority, etc.)

Examples

。
Zhè liàng chē zài gāo sù gōng lù shàng xíng shǐ.
This car is traveling on the highway.
，行驶。
Hǎi shàng fēng dà, chuán xíng shǐ dé hěn màn.
The wind is strong at sea, so the ship is traveling very slowly.
行驶。
Huǒ chē zài tiě lù shàng ān quán xíng shǐ.
The train travels safely on the railway.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

Traveling and driving are placed side by side to describe a vehicle running along a route.

Characters in this word

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

彳亍行

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.

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 駛; 驶 is its simplified writing.

馬史駛

Meaning part形符xíngfú

馬馬mǎ

Sound part声符shēngfú

史

史shǐ駛shǐ

Same sound today

The traditional form 駛 has 馬 as the meaning part and 史 as the sound part.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 Roads & Traffic Vehicles

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