沿着 meaning in English

yánzhe

to go along; to follow

HSK 6Traditional 沿著19 strokes

Meaning of 沿着

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

yánzhe

to go along
to follow

How to use 沿着

沿着 works like a preposition before a path, edge, or direction, followed by a verb of movement. It is also used figuratively, as in following a road or a plan. Example: 沿着这条河走。(Yánzhe zhè tiáo hé zǒu.) Walk along this river.

沿 (yán) has the water radical 氵 on the left, so picture walking along the edge of a river. Add 着 (zhe), the marker for an ongoing action, and you get "keep going along" something.

Common mistake: Learners often read 着 here as zháo, as in 着急 (zháojí) or 睡着 (shuìzháo). In 沿着 it is the neutral-tone zhe, the same as in 随着 (suízhe) and 接着 (jiēzhe).

沿着 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

请qǐng沿yán着zhe这zhè条tiáo路lù一yì直zhí往wǎng前qián走zǒu。

Go straight ahead along this street.

他tā们men沿yán着zhe非fēi洲zhōu西xī岸àn航háng行xíng了le。

They sailed along the west coast of Africa.

部bù落luò成chéng员yuán沿yán着zhe河hé岸àn定dìng居jū了le。

Members of that tribe settled along the river.

一yì匹pǐ马mǎ拉lā着zhe大dà车chē沿yán着zhe大dà路lù走zǒu。

A horse pulled the cart along the road.

沿yán着zhe这zhè条tiáo路lù直zhí走zǒu，到dào第dì三sān个gè红hóng绿lǜ灯dēng的de地dì方fāng右yòu转zhuǎn。

Go straight down this street and turn right at the third light.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

沿 yán · along · 8 strokes

着 zhe · aspect particle indicating action in pr… · 11 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 沿着.

接着	jiēzhe	to catch and hold on; to continue
睡着	shuìzháo	to fall asleep
着火	zháohuǒ	to catch fire
着急	zháojí	to worry; to feel anxious; to feel a sense of urgency; to be in a hurry
意味着	yìwèizhe	to signify; to mean
随着	suízhe	along with; in the wake of
有着	yǒuzhe	to have; to possess
用不着	yòngbuzháo	not need; have no use for
指着	zhǐzhe
背着	bèizhe	carrying on one's back
用得着	yòngdezháo	to be able to use; useable; to have a use for; (in a question) to be necessary to
挨着	āizhe	near

Questions about 沿着

What does 沿着 mean?

沿着 (yánzhe) means "to go along; to follow".

How do you write 沿着?

沿着 is made of 2 characters: 沿 (8 strokes), 着 (11 strokes). That is 19 strokes in total.

Is 沿着 an HSK word?

Yes. 沿着 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 沿着 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 沿着 is written 沿著.

What is the difference between 沿着 and 随着?

沿着 (yánzhe) means moving along a physical or figurative path, like a street or a coastline. 随着 (suízhe) means "along with" or "as something changes", for example 随着时间 (suízhe shíjiān), as time goes on.

Can I just say 沿 without 着?

Yes. 沿 alone appears in more formal or written phrases like 沿河 (yán hé), along the river, and 沿途 (yántú), along the way. In everyday speech, 沿着 is more common before a longer noun phrase.