Skip to content
Chinese Copilot

跟gēnwith

HSK 2word

By Chinese Copilot · Last updated

跟 (gēn) means "with," "and" when joining nouns, or "to follow." Put 跟 + person before the verb to say you do something with someone, as in 我跟朋友去. It can also join two nouns like "and." This entry focuses on learner uses of with, and, and follow.

What does 跟 mean?

  1. 1.

    withpreposition

  2. 2.

    and (joining two nouns)conjunction

  3. 3.

    to follow closely; to go withverb

What does the character 跟 mean?

  • 跟with

How do you use 跟?

Grammar patterns

  1. 1

    Subj. + 跟 + Person + Verb (+ Obj.)

    Put 跟 + person before the verb to mean "with" that person. The with-phrase comes before the verb, not after.

  2. 2

    Subj. + 跟 + Person + 一起 + Verb (+ Obj.)

    跟…一起 marks doing something together with someone.

跟 often sits before the verb with a person; for "together," learners often add 一起 after the person.

Patterns

  • 跟 + Person + Verb

    我跟他去。

    Wǒ gēn tā qù.

    I'm going with him.

  • 跟 + Person + 一起 + Verb

    你想跟我一起去吗？

    Nǐ xiǎng gēn wǒ yìqǐ qù ma?

    Do you want to go with me?

What are some examples of 跟 in a sentence?

  1. HSK 1

    我跟朋友去。

    Wǒ gēn péngyou qù.

    I'm going with a friend.

  2. HSK 1

    你想跟我去吗？

    Nǐ xiǎng gēn wǒ qù ma?

    Do you want to go with me?

  3. HSK 1

    不要跟我说。

    Búyào gēn wǒ shuō.

    Don't talk to me. / Don't tell me.

  4. HSK 2

    我跟朋友一起去。

    Wǒ gēn péngyou yìqǐ qù.

    I'm going together with a friend.

How is 跟 different from 和?

和 and 跟 can both join nouns or mean "with," but 跟我读 means "read after me" (follow). 和我读 does not carry that follow sense.

Only 跟 fits here

跟我读。

Gēn wǒ dú.

Read after me.

How is 跟 used in a conversation?

  1. Speaker A:

    你想跟我去吗？

    Nǐ xiǎng gēn wǒ qù ma?

    Do you want to go with me?

  2. Speaker B:

    想，我跟你去。

    Xiǎng, wǒ gēn nǐ qù.

    Yes, I'll go with you.

  3. Speaker A:

    你跟谁去？

    Nǐ gēn shéi qù?

    Who are you going with?

  4. Speaker B:

    我跟朋友一起去。

    Wǒ gēn péngyou yìqǐ qù.

    I'm going with a friend.

  5. Speaker A:

    跟我读。

    Gēn wǒ dú.

    Read after me.

  6. Speaker B:

    好。

    Hǎo.

    OK.

Can you use 跟 correctly?

0 of 3 answered
  1. 1.Fill in the blank: 我___朋友去。
  2. 2.Which sentence means "Read after me"?
  3. 3.Fill in the blank: 你想___我一起去吗？

What should you learn next?

Related words

Browse every entry in the Chinese word dictionary.

English glosses on this page are adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG (snapshot 2026-10-23), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Glosses were edited for learners.