Where 跟 comes from
foot
- Meaning part
- 足 (“sufficient”)
- Sound part
- 艮 (“one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦”)
How to write 跟 (gēn, “to follow closely”)
跟 (gēn), an HSK 2 character, means “to follow closely”, “heel” and “to go with”. It is HSK 2 in the 2025 syllabus, up from level 1 in the 2021 standard. It pairs a meaning part, 足 (“sufficient”), with a sound part, 艮 (“one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦”). On its own it is an HSK 2 word; it also forms 跟前 (“the front”), 跟随 (“to follow”) and 跟踪 (“to follow sb's tracks”). Japanese reads it kon, “heel”.
- Pinyin
- gēn
- Strokes
- 13
- HSK
- 2
- Radical
- 足 (“sufficient”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
As a left-right character it splits into 足 (“sufficient”, the radical), strokes 1–7; 艮 (“one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦”), strokes 8–13, written the left part first.
- top leftdown and right
- top leftrightwards → down and left
- top leftrightwards
- top leftdownwards
- leftup and right → rightwards
- leftdownwards
- bottom leftrightwards
- toprightwards → downwards
- toprightwards
- centerrightwards
- topdownwards → up and right
- rightdown and right → down and left
- centerdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (13 strokes in Japanese, 13 strokes in Chinese).
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| gēn first tone | to follow closely; heel; to go with; (of a woman) to marry sb; with | — | 跟前 跟随 跟踪 跟进 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 2
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 3 word
- Words with it
- 48 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 跟
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 跟 | gēn | heel; to follow closely HSK 2 |
| 跟前 | gēnqián | the front; front HSK 6 |
| 跟随 跟隨 | gēnsuí | to follow HSK 6 |
| 跟踪 跟蹤 | gēnzōng | to follow sb's tracks; to tail HSK 6 |
| 跟进 跟進 | gēnjìn | to follow; to follow up HSK 7-9 |
| 后跟 後跟 | hòugēn | heel (part of a foot); heel |
| 跟上 | gēnshàng | to catch up with; to keep pace with |
| 跟人 | gēnrén | to marry |
| 跟包 | gēnbāo | to work as footman; to do odd jobs |
| 跟手 | gēnshǒu | while doing it; on the way through |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Keep going
HSK 2, in list order: