送 (sòng) · to send, to deliver, to give (a gift)

Meanings

1 to send
2 to deliver
3 to give (a gift)
4 to see off

Characters

送

sòng

to send; to deliver; to give as a gift

Examples

HSK 1

我送你回家吧。

Wǒ sòng nǐ huí jiā ba.

Let me take you home.

HSK 2

他去机场送朋友。

Tā qù jīchǎng sòng péngyou.

He went to the airport to see off a friend.

HSK 3

我送你一个礼物。

Wǒ sòng nǐ yí ge lǐwù.

I'll give you a gift.

Tips

culture

In Chinese culture, 送 a gift has rules: never give clocks (送钟 sounds like 送终, attending a funeral), and gifts are often refused once or twice before being accepted - this is polite custom.

Components

radical

辶 chuò

walk; move (radical form)

Walk-radical wrapping the bottom-left - the contracted form of 辵. Marks 送 as a movement verb: sending, delivering, escorting all involve going somewhere with someone or something. Same radical anchors 这, 还, 进, 远, 过. The radical alone signals locomotion.

phonetic

关 guān

gate-bar / stylised torch (here phonetic)

Top-right 关 - a stylised remnant of an earlier 灷 (torch). Supplies a rough sound: zhuàn → sòng with significant Old Chinese drift. Adds a faint flavour of escorting someone with a torch, fitting the see-off meaning.