跟手 (gēn shǒu) — (adverb, dialectal) right away; immediately afterward

Definition

Dialect adverb meaning 'right after that, immediately afterward' (as in 先做完作业，跟手再玩). Used in informal, especially southern/colloquial speech — not standard written Chinese.

adverb
(adverb, dialectal) right awayimmediately afterward

Examples

  • 跟手。
    Wǒ chī wán fàn gēn shǒu jiù qù tú shū guǎn.
    I'll go to the library right after eating.
  • ，跟手。
    Tā dào le, gēn shǒu huì yì jiù kāi shǐ.
    He arrived, and then the meeting started.
  • ，跟手。
    Nǐ xiān zuò zuò yè, gēn shǒu zài wán.
    Do your homework first, and then play.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

跟gēnfollow
手shǒuhand

跟 'follow' and 手 'hand' convey doing something immediately afterward, as if following the hand.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
足足zúfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
艮
艮gèn跟gēn
Same sound today

跟 is built from 足 (foot) plus 艮. The 足 part ties the character to foot-related senses, while 艮 gives the sound.

Open 跟 →

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

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