随 (suí): to follow

Meanings

1 to follow
2 along with
3 as one wishes

Characters

随

suí

to follow; as one wishes

Examples

随你便。

Suí nǐ biàn.

As you wish. / It's up to you.

请随我来。

Qǐng suí wǒ lái.

Please follow me.

随着时间的变化，一切都不同了。

Suízhe shíjiān de biànhuà, yíqiè dōu bùtóng le.

With the passage of time, everything has changed.

Tips

grammar

随着 + noun/change = 'along with / as (something changes).' A very important grammar pattern for describing trends.

usage

随便 = casual / whatever / as you please. One of the most useful daily expressions.

Components

radical

阝 fǔ

mound; hill (left form)

Left mound radical — the indexing radical (left-阝 = 阜, distinct from right-阝 = 邑 city). Originally meant earth mound or terrace; in 随 it sets the scene of paths and hills along which one follows another. Same radical family as 阶 (steps), 险 (dangerous terrain), 队 (column of people), 阳 (sunny side of a mound).

semantic

辶 chuò

walking; motion (radical)

The right-side 9 strokes wrap a 有-shaped middle inside the walking-radical 辶. Historically the simplified 随 collapses 隋 (a phonetic from earlier 隓) with motion 辶 underneath, giving 'going-along-with' as the overall picture. Treat the right side as the motion-with-form unit; same 辶 family in 进 (advance), 退 (retreat), 追 (chase).