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回家 (huí jiā) — to return home, to go home

Definition

回家 is a resultative-style verb phrase: 回 marks the direction 'back', 家 is the destination. It implies arriving home, not just going in that direction — unlike 去 which can be left open-ended.

verb
to return hometo go home

Examples

  • 回家。
    Wǒ měi tiān xià bān hòu dōu huí jiā.
    I go home every day after work.
  • 。
    Wǒ huí le yí tàng jiā.
    I made a trip home.
  • 回家？
    Nǐ shén me shí hou huí jiā?
    When are you going home?

Origin

Characters in this word

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

回 comes from a drawing of a spiral, showing something turning around.

Open 回 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →
Appears in
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