跟踪 (gēn zōng) — to follow, to tail, to shadow | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

跟踪 (gēnzōng) means 'to tail / shadow / track' a person or vehicle, often covertly or over time. It is more surveillance-oriented than 跟随 ('to follow along') and more concrete than 追踪 ('to trace / pursue' a trail or lead).

verb

to followto tailto shadow

Examples

跟踪。
Gǒu zài gēn zōng nà ge xiǎo tōu de qì wèi.
The dog is following the thief's scent.
GPS跟踪。
Wǒ men yòng GPS gēn zōng zhè liàng chē de xíng shǐ lù xiàn.
We used GPS to track the route of this car.
跟踪。
Jǐng fāng yǐ jīng gēn zōng tā hǎo jǐ tiān le.
The police have been tailing him for several days.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

跟 “follow” and 踪 “tracks” combine to describe following someone’s tracks.

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

足足zúfoot

Sound part声符shēngfú

艮

艮gèn跟gēn

Same sound today

跟 is built from 足 (foot) plus 艮. The 足 part ties the character to foot-related senses, while 艮 gives the sound.

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

足足zúfoot

Sound part声符shēngfú

宗

宗zōng踪zōng

Same sound today

踪 pairs 足, a foot, with 宗, which gives the sound zōng.

Appears in

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