靠 (kào): to lean on

Meanings

1 to lean on
2 to depend on
3 to be near

Characters

靠

kào

to lean on; to rely on; near

Examples

他靠在墙上休息。

Tā kào zài qiángshàng xiūxi.

He leaned against the wall to rest.

我们不能靠别人。

Wǒmen bùnéng kào biérén.

We can't depend on others.

靠窗的座位已经没有了。

Kàochuāng de zuòwèi yǐjīng méiyǒu le.

The window seats are all taken.

Tips

usage

靠 has three common uses: physical leaning (靠在椅子上), depending on someone (靠父母), and being near something (靠近).

memory

Think of leaning on something for support — that's the core image of 靠.

Components

radical

非 fēi

not; wrong; opposite

Bottom 非 (Kangxi #175) — the indexing radical, originally a pictograph of two opposed wings spreading sideways. The 'two backs leaning against each other' imagery is the semantic key: 靠 is to lean on, depend on, be next to (依靠 rely on, 靠近 close to, 可靠 reliable). One of the rarer Kangxi radicals.

phonetic

告 gào

to tell; announce

Top phonetic 告 (gào) — supplies the sound, shifting to kào through the velar series. Same phonetic in 浩 (hào vast), 皓 (hào bright), 造 (zào make). Standalone 告 means 'to announce, inform' — purely phonetic in 靠, no semantic carryover.