行 (xíng): to walk; to go; to travel

Meanings

1 to walk; to go; to travel
2 to do; to perform; to carry out
3 OK; capable; will do
4 behavior; conduct
5 trip; journey

Characters

行

xíng

to walk; to do; OK; capable

Examples

行，没问题。

Xíng, méi wèntí.

OK, no problem.

这样行吗？

Zhèyàng xíng ma?

Is this OK?

你真行！

Nǐ zhēn xíng!

You're really capable!

三思而后行。

Sān sī érhòu xíng.

Think three times before you act.

Tips

mistakes

行 has two everyday readings. As xíng it covers walking, doing, behavior, and the casual 'OK'; as 行 háng it covers rows, lines, and lines of business. 银行 (bank) uses háng; 不行 (no good) uses xíng. A third reading héng survives only in 道行 (a Buddhist's spiritual attainment) and need not be learned now.

usage

As a casual 'OK', 行 is more direct than 好 or 可以. Negate it as 不行 ('no way; won't work'); ask with 行不行 ('will it work?'). The verbal sense 'to do / perform' is bound: you see it in 进行, 执行, 举行 rather than as a standalone verb.

memory

Picture the character as a crossroads viewed from above — the left side 彳 and right side 亍 are two paths meeting. If you imagine walking through that crossroads you get xíng (to walk, to do, OK, the trip); if you imagine the lanes themselves you get háng (row, line, line of work). Same picture, two camera angles.

Components

pictograph

行 xíng

walk; crossroads

Ancient pictograph of a crossroads — left half 彳 and right half 亍 are paths leading in opposite directions, the character literally depicting where roads cross. Functions as Kangxi radical #144, indexing a small set of motion and street chars: 街 (street), 衍 (extend), 衡 (balance), 衢 (thoroughfare). The xíng reading takes the 'walking through' interpretation — from 'walk' came 'travel', then 'do / carry out', then 'workable / OK', and (as a noun) 'behavior' and 'trip'.