TongTong
Sign in

赶走 (gǎn zǒu) — to drive away, to expel

Definition

A separable verb meaning 'to drive away / expel' — splits as 赶…走 (赶走, 赶不走) and takes 把 or 被 for the thing driven away. Used for people, animals, or pests, not abstract ideas.

verb
to drive awayto expel

Examples

  • 赶走。
    Tā bǎ nà zhī māo gǎn zǒu le.
    He drove that cat away.
  • ？
    Zhè xiē chóng zi zěn me dōu gǎn bù zǒu?
    Why can't these bugs be driven away?
  • 赶走。
    Xiǎo tōu bèi jǐng chá gǎn zǒu le.
    The thief was driven away by the police.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

赶gǎndrive
走zǒugo away

赶 means drive and 走 gives the result of going away.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 趕; 赶 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
走走zǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
旱
旱hàn趕gǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 趕 combines 走, for the meaning, and 旱, for the sound; this is about 趕, not 赶.

Open 赶 →

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

The original shape showed a running man, with a foot added later.

Open 走 →
Appears in
5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.