行 (xíng): to walk; to go; to travel

Meanings

1 to walk; to go; to travel
2 to do; to perform; to carry out
3 OK; capable; will do
4 behavior; conduct
5 trip; journey

Characters

行

xíng

to walk; to do; OK; capable

Examples

HSK 1

你真行！

Nǐ zhēn xíng!

You're really capable!

HSK 2

行，没问题。

Xíng, méi wèntí.

OK, no problem.

HSK 4

三思而后行。

Sān sī érhòu xíng.

Think three times before you act.

Tips

mistakes

行 has two everyday readings. As xíng it covers walking, doing, behavior, and the casual 'OK'; as 行 háng it covers rows, lines, and lines of business. 银行 (bank) uses háng; 不行 (no good) uses xíng. A third reading héng survives only in 道行 (a Buddhist's spiritual attainment) and need not be learned now.

usage

As a casual 'OK', 行 is more direct than 好 or 可以. Negate it as 不行 ('no way; won't work'); ask with 行不行 ('will it work?'). The verbal sense 'to do / perform' is bound: you see it in 进行, 执行, 举行 rather than as a standalone verb.

memory

Picture the character as a crossroads viewed from above - the left side 彳 and right side 亍 are two paths meeting. If you imagine walking through that crossroads you get xíng (to walk, to do, OK, the trip); if you imagine the lanes themselves you get háng (row, line, line of work). Same picture, two camera angles.

Components

pictograph

行 xíng

walk; crossroads

Ancient pictograph of a crossroads - left half 彳 and right half 亍 are paths leading in opposite directions, the character literally depicting where roads cross. Functions as Kangxi radical #144, indexing a small set of motion and street chars: 街 (street), 衍 (extend), 衡 (balance), 衢 (thoroughfare). The xíng reading takes the 'walking through' interpretation - from 'walk' came 'travel', then 'do / carry out', then 'workable / OK', and (as a noun) 'behavior' and 'trip'.

Radical

Walk Kangxi #144

The 'walk/road' radical. Originally a pictograph of a crossroads — 彳 (left half) plus 亍 (right half) — depicting paths leading in opposite directions. Indexes a small set of motion and street characters: 街 (street), 衍 (extend), 衡 (balance), 衢 (thoroughfare). Sandwich-shape: the radical opens left and right while a phonetic sits in the middle.