继

繼
jì
verb HSK 7-9 #9,209

Meanings

  1. 1 to continue; to carry on
  2. 2 to follow; to succeed
  3. 3 to inherit

Examples

HSK 4
Qǐng jìxù shuō.
Please continue speaking.
HSK 4
Wǒmen jìxù zǒu ba.
Let's keep walking.

Tips

usage
继 is mainly seen in 继续 (to continue), 继承 (to inherit/succeed), 继父 (stepfather), 继母 (stepmother), 相继 (one after another).

Components

radical
纟 sī
silk (radical form of 糸)
Silk radical on the left - the side-form of 糸. It files 继 in the thread-and-cord family with 红 red, 终 end, 续 continue. The metaphor is tying threads together: to 'continue' is to splice a new strand onto an old one, the original image behind 继 'to carry on'.
semantic
米 mǐ
rice (here graphic)
Right side resembles 米 rice with an added top hook, standing in for the historical right half of traditional 繼 - a stack of cut threads being reconnected. The simplified form borrowed the 米 silhouette as a graphic shortcut. Read it as the 'splicing' image, not 'rice'.

Stroke Order

继 jì