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沿途 (yán tú) — (adverb) along the way, during the journey; (noun) the route; the sides of the road

Definition

Means 'along the way / by the roadside' during a journey — the area on either side of your path, not the path itself (that's 路线/线路) or the distance (路程). Compare 沿线, which is tied to a transport line like a railway.

adverb
along the wayduring the journey
noun
the routethe sides of the road

Examples

  • 沿途。
    Wǒ men yán tú pāi le hěn duō zhào piàn.
    We took many photos along the way.
  • 沿途。
    yán tú De shāng diàn dōu guān mén le.
    The shops along the road were all closed.
  • 沿途。
    Tā yán tú wèn le hǎo jǐ cì lù.
    He asked for directions several times along the way.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

沿yánfollow along
途túroute

沿 means to follow along and 途 is the route, so 沿途 refers to what is met along the way.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㕣
㕣㕣沿yán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

沿 pairs 氵 (water) with 㕣, which shows how it was pronounced; it originally meant the edge of a river, which led to the sense of moving along something.

Open 沿 →

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
余
余yú途
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

途 is made from 辶 (written fully as 辵), a walking part, and 余, which gives the sound.

Open 途 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Travel & Tourism

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