跟

Mandarin · pinyin gēn

Meanings

  1. heel
  2. to follow closely
  3. to go with
  4. (of a woman) to marry sb
  5. with
  6. compared with
  7. to
  8. towards
  9. and (joining two nouns)
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Characters in this entry

跟
gēn · heel; to follow, accompany; with
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1 · gen1

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gan1

Cantonese word readings for 跟. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character · Etymology 1

  1. heel (of a foot, a shoe or a sock)
  2. to follow
  3. (of a woman) to marry
  4. with (together)
  5. as (in comparisons)
  6. to; with
  7. and (joining nouns)
  8. (regional Mandarin) at
  9. (Cantonese) to follow; to abide
  10. (Waxiang) to act for someone
  11. (Waxiang) Used to introduce the direct object of a verb.

character · Etymology 2

  1. (Southern Min) alternative form of 綴 /缀 (“to follow”)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack