关进 (guān jìn) — to lock up, to confine, to shut in (a person or animal)

Definition

Separable verb: 关 + 进, meaning 'to lock/shut [someone] into' a place (prison, cage, room). The example 把猫∼笼子里 shows the split with 把.

verb
to lock upto confineto shut in (a person or animal)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 关进。
    Jǐng chá bǎ fàn zuì xián yí rén guān jìn le jiān yù.
    The police locked the suspect in prison.
  • ，。
    Zhè ge mén hǎo jǐn, wǒ guān bú jìn qù.
    This door is very tight — I can't shut it completely.
  • 关进。
    Nǐ shì shì kàn néng bù néng bǎ māo guān jìn lóng zi lǐ.
    Try to see if you can lock the cat in the cage.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

关guānshut
进jìnin

关 gives shutting, and 进 adds in, so the sense is to shut someone in.

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 關; 关 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
門門méndoor
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢇅
𢇅𢇅關guān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 关, the traditional form 關 shows 門 as a door and 𢇅 as two wooden sticks locking it, with ring-like marks on top.

Open 关 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 進; 进 is its simplified writing.

  • 辵辵chuòwalk
  • 隹隹zhuīshort-tail bird

The traditional form 進 pairs 辵 (walk) with 隹 (short-tail bird): the picture showed moving forward because a bird can only walk forward, not backward. The simplified 进 is a later shorthand.

Open 进 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.