移 (yí) · to move, to shift, to change position

Meanings

1 to move
2 to shift
3 to change position

Characters

移

yí

to move; to shift

禾 (grain) + 多 (many) - moving grain from place to place.

Examples

HSK 2

不要移开你的手。

Búyào yí kāi nǐ de shǒu.

Don't move your hand away.

HSK 3

请把椅子移一下。

Qǐng bǎ yǐzi yí yíxià.

Please move the chair a bit.

HSK 5

他把目光移到了窗外。

Tā bǎ mùguāng yí dào le chuāngwài.

He shifted his gaze to outside the window.

Tips

usage

移 often appears with directional complements: 移开 (move away), 移到 (move to), 移过来 (move over here). It implies a controlled, deliberate movement rather than casual motion.

Components

radical

禾 hé

standing grain (radical)

Left grain radical - the indexing radical, depicting a stalk of cereal with a bowed head ripe for harvest. Originally 移 referred to transplanting young rice seedlings, hence the grain anchor. Same radical sits in 种 to plant, 秋 autumn, 稻 rice, 秒 second-of-time (a tiny grain-tip).

phonetic

多 duō

many (phonetic)

Right side 多 supplies the sound - duō drifted to yí through Old Chinese alternation (sharing the same final). 多 itself stacks two 夕 (evening), but the 'many' meaning is incidental here - pure phonetic role. Same phonetic series produces 侈 extravagant and 哆 to tremble.