赶车 (gǎn chē) — to drive a cart; to rush to catch a bus or train

Definition

Two distinct senses: drive a cart (often in rural/older contexts) vs. rush to catch a bus or train. The 'catch' sense is by far the more common modern usage.

verb
to drive a cartto rush to catch a bus or train
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā jīn tiān gǎn le sān cì chē, zhōng yú dào le.
    He caught the bus three times today and finally arrived.
  • 赶车。
    Wǒ měi tiān zǎo shàng dōu yào gǎn chē qù shàng bān.
    Every morning I have to rush to catch the bus to go to work.
  • ，赶车。
    Yǐ qián zài nóng cūn, tā jīng cháng gǎn chē yùn liáng shi.
    Before, in the countryside, he often drove a cart to transport grain.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

赶gǎndrive
车chēvehicle

赶 means drive or rush to catch, and 车 is a cart or vehicle, together naming driving or catching it.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →

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