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赶快 (gǎn kuài) — quickly, at once, in a hurry

Definition

赶快 means 'hurry up / quickly' — an everyday adverb urging someone to act fast. Stronger than 马上 (which focuses on timing, 'right away') and more colloquial than 尽快 ('as soon as possible').

adverb
quicklyat oncein a hurry

Examples

  • 赶快。
    Nǐ gǎn kuài huí jiā ba.
    You go home quickly.
  • 赶快。
    Wǒ men gǎn kuài tōng zhī dà jiā.
    We need to notify everyone quickly.
  • 赶快。
    Tā gǎn kuài chī le fàn jiù zǒu le.
    He ate quickly and left.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

赶gǎnhurry
快kuàifast

Hurry 赶 plus fast 快 builds the sense of moving quickly at once.

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 趕; 赶 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
走走zǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
旱
旱hàn趕gǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 趕 combines 走, for the meaning, and 旱, for the sound; this is about 趕, not 赶.

Open 赶 →

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
忄Written in full as心xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
夬
夬guài快kuài
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

快 pairs the left part 忄 (full form 心, the heart) with the right part 夬, which gives the sound.

Open 快 →
Appears in
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