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偕

xié
preposition #17,522

Meanings

  1. 1 together with
  2. 2 in the company of
  3. 3 accompanied by

Examples

HSK 5
白头偕老是每对夫妻的愿望。
Báitóu-xiélǎo shì měi duì fūqī de yuànwàng.
'Growing old together' is every couple's wish.
HSK 6
他偕夫人出席了晚宴。
Tā xié fūrén chūxí le wǎnyàn.
He attended the banquet accompanied by his wife.

Tips

register
偕 is literary/formal. In everyday speech, use 和 or 跟 instead. 偕 appears most often in formal writing, news, and the set phrase 白头偕老 (to grow old together).

Components

radical
亻 rén
person (left-side form of 人)
The person radical on the left marks 偕 as a human relation - to be together with someone, to act in company. It anchors the social meaning and indexes 偕 with 伴 companion, 伙 partner, 依 lean on, 偶 pair, 侣 mate - all chars about pairing and accompaniment.
phonetic
皆 jiē
all; everyone (here phonetic)
皆 supplies the sound jiē to xié, a moderate drift through palatalisation. The meaning of 'all together, everyone' is also a soft fit - being-with-someone is a small version of being-with-everyone. Same phonetic in 谐 harmonious, 揩 wipe.

Stroke Order

偕 xié