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随身 (suí shēn) — (adjective) carried on one's person; personal (as in 随身物品, 随身行李)

Definition

An adjective meaning 'carried on one's person' — modifies items you keep with you (随身物品, 随身行李), not items you own generally. Almost always appears before a noun.

adjective
carried on one's personpersonal (as in 随身物品, 随身行李)

Examples

  • 随身。
    Wǒ chū mén zǒng shì suí shēn dài yí gè shuǐ bēi.
    I always carry a water bottle with me when I go out.
  • 随身。
    Qǐng bǎo guǎn hǎo nín de suí shēn wù pǐn.
    Please take good care of your personal belongings.
  • 随身。
    Tā de suí shēn xíng li zhǐ yǒu yí gè bēi bāo.
    His carry-on luggage is just one backpack.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

随suícarry with
身shēnbody

'随' means carry with and '身' means body, so it describes something kept on a person.

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 隨; 随 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalking
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡐦
𡐦𡐦隨suí
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隨 pairs 辵 (walking) with 𡐦 (the sound part); the simplified 随 is a later shorthand.

Open 随 →

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

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

Open 身 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Everyday Objects

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