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靠得住 (kào de zhù) — reliable; trustworthy; someone or something you can count on

Definition

A verb–complement meaning 'reliable / trustworthy' — often negated as 靠不住 (unreliable). Slightly more emphatic than the plain adjective 可靠, with a sense of being 'someone you can count on'.

verb
reliabletrustworthysomeone or something you can count on

Examples

  • 靠得住，。
    Zhè wèi péng you hěn kào de zhù, nǐ jǐn guǎn xiāng xìn tā.
    This friend is very reliable — you can trust him.
  • 靠得住。
    Wǒ men xū yào yí gè kào de zhù de hé zuò huǒ bàn.
    We need a trustworthy business partner.
  • ，靠得住。
    Zhè tái jī qì yòng le shí nián, réng rán kào de zhù.
    This machine has been used for ten years and is still dependable.

Origin

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
非非fēi
Sound part声符shēngfú
告
告gào靠kào
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

靠 is made of 告 and 非: 告 gives the sound, and 非 gives the meaning.

Open 靠 →

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

The old form 㝵 showed a hand picking up a cowry, meaning to obtain; later changes turned that picture into 得.

Open 得 →

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
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
主
主zhǔ住zhù
Same sound today

住 pairs 亻, the person radical (written fully as 人), with 主, which supplies the sound.

Open 住 →
Appears in
Personality & Traits

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