行 meaning in English
(bound form) to walk; to go; to travel; (literary) trip; journey; visit
Meaning of 行
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- (bound form) to walk; to go; to travel
- (literary) trip; journey; visit
- (bound form) temporary; makeshift
- (bound form) current; in circulation
- (bound form) to do; to perform
- capable; competent
- all right; OK!; will do
- behavior; conduct (Taiwan pr. [xing4])
- (bound form) row; line
- (bound form) line of business; trade; profession
- (bound form) commercial firm
- (bound form) to rank (first, second etc) among one's siblings (by age)
- (in data tables) row; (Tw) column
- classifier for rows or lines
- used in 道行[dao4 heng2]
How to use 行
In everyday speech 行 (xíng) often means 'OK' or 'that works', and 不行 (bùxíng) means 'no way' or 'that won't do'. It also appears in words like 旅行 (lǚxíng, to travel) and 进行 (jìnxíng, to carry out). Example: 明天去，行吗？(Míngtiān qù, xíng ma?) Is going tomorrow OK?
Picture 行 as a crossroads seen from above: two short streets on the left and two on the right, with paths running between them. A crossroads is where people walk and go, which gives the meaning 'to go' (xíng), and the neat lines of the streets connect to 'row' (háng).
Common mistake: Learners often read 银行 (bank) as yínxíng, but here 行 is pronounced háng, meaning a business or firm. Use háng for trades, rows, and firms, and xíng for going, doing, and 'OK'.
行 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
行 xíng · to walk · 6 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 行.
| 不行 | bùxíng | won't do; be out of the question |
| 进行 | jìnxíng | (of a process etc) to proceed; to be in progress; to be underway; (of people) to carry out |
| 行动 | xíngdòng | operation; action |
| 行为 | xíngwéi | action; conduct; behavior; activity |
| 银行 | yínháng | bank |
| 旅行 | lǚxíng | to travel; journey; trip |
| 举行 | jǔxíng | to hold (a meeting, ceremony etc) |
| 流行 | liúxíng | (of a contagious disease etc) to spread; to propagate; (of a style of clothing, song etc) |
| 自行车 | zìxíngchē | bicycle; bike |
| 行人 | xíngrén | pedestrian; traveler on foot |
| 银行卡 | yínhángkǎ | bank card |
| 飞行 | fēixíng | to fly; flight |
Questions about 行
What does 行 mean?
行 (xíng) means "(bound form) to walk; to go; to travel; (literary) trip; journey; visit" and is used as a verb, adjective and measure word.
How do you write 行?
行 is made of 1 character: 行 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.
Is 行 an HSK word?
Yes. 行 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I know when 行 is read xíng or háng?
Read it háng when it means a row, a line, a profession, or a company, as in 银行 (yínháng, bank) or 一行字 (yì háng zì, a line of text). In most other cases, especially 'to go', 'to do', or 'OK', it is xíng.
Can 行 describe a person as capable?
Yes. 你真行 (nǐ zhēn xíng) means 'you are really good at this' or 'you are really capable'. In this sense it works like an adjective and is read xíng.