你追我赶

你追我趕

nǐzhuī-wǒgǎn

idiom #86,762

Meanings

1 you chase and I'll catch up — friendly competition
2 to vie spiritedly with one another

Characters

Examples

同学们你追我赶，学习成绩都提高了。

Tóngxué men nǐzhuīwǒgǎn, xuéxí chéngjì dōu tígāo le.

The classmates egged each other on, and all their grades improved.

两家公司你追我赶，推出了很多新产品。

Liǎng jiā gōngsī nǐzhuīwǒgǎn, tuīchū le hěnduō xīn chǎnpǐn.

The two companies, competing neck and neck, launched many new products.

运动会上，选手们你追我赶。

Yùndònghuì shàng, xuǎnshǒu men nǐzhuīwǒgǎn.

At the sports meet, the athletes were racing to overtake one another.

Tips

usage

Positive — healthy, motivating competition. Common in descriptions of classrooms, sports teams, sales teams, manufacturing drives. Contrast with 明争暗斗 (open and covert struggle), which is negative.

grammar

One of several 你…我… 'mutual' idioms: 你来我往 (back and forth), 你一言我一语 (chatter back and forth), 你死我活 (life-or-death struggle). 你 and 我 here are generic placeholders — not literally 'you and me.'

Stroke Order

你 nǐ

追 zhuī

我 wǒ

赶 gǎn