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一起 (yī qǐ) — together; altogether (in total)

Definition

一起 covers two different meanings: as an adverb it means 'together' (do something with others, like 一起学习); as in '这些书一起多少钱' it means 'altogether / in total' — for that total/amount sense, 一共 is more standard.

adverb
togetheraltogether (in total)

Examples

  • 一起。
    Wǒ men yī qǐ qù gōng yuán ba.
    Let's go to the park together.
  • 一起。
    Tā men jīng cháng yī qǐ xué xí.
    They often study together.
  • 一起？
    Zhè xiē shū yī qǐ duō shǎo qián?
    How much are these books altogether?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

一yīall
起qǐup

The characters 一 and 起 combine to mean together; the sense is fixed as a whole, not literally all up.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

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
走走zǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
巳
巳sì起qǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

起 is made from 走 and 巳: 走 is the part connected with walking or running, and 巳 gives the sound.

Open 起 →

Grammar

Appears in
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