接

jiē
verb HSK 3 #325

Meanings

  1. 1 to receive
  2. 2 to answer (phone)
  3. 3 to meet/pick up

Examples

HSK 1
Qǐng jiē diànhuà.
Please answer the phone.
HSK 1
接住!
Jiē zhù!
Catch it!
HSK 2
Wǒ qù jīchǎng jiē nǐ.
I'll pick you up at the airport.

Tips

usage
接 is very versatile: 接电话 (answer phone), 接人 (pick someone up), 接球 (catch a ball).

Components

radical
扌 shǒu
hand (left-side form of 手)
Left-side 扌 is the hand radical, the three-stroke compressed form of 手. It marks 接 as a hand-action verb - receiving, catching, picking up, joining. Same family as 打, 拉, 推, 抱; almost any verb you do with your hands gets this radical.
phonetic
妾 qiè
concubine; female servant
Right-side 妾 gives the sound (qiè → jiē, affricate shift). 妾 itself is 立+女 (a standing woman); the original 'receive a guest at the door' meaning carried a faint social register tied to attendants. Modern 接 is essentially pure phonetic borrow - the sound link is the active part.

Stroke Order

接 jiē