赶上
gǎnshàng
The English phrase "catch up" is translated into Chinese as 赶上 (gǎnshàng).
赶上 is used when you are physically catching up to someone or something, or when you are catching up with a deadline or a current trend.
Meaning: to be brought up to date with news (verb)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the verb 赶 (gǎn), meaning 'to hurry' or 'to chase' and the complement 上 (shàng), meaning 'to reach' or 'to achieve contact'.
Which one should you use?
While 赶上 works for physical or temporal catching up, it is not typically used for the social sense of 'catching up on news' or chatting to update each other. For social catching up, you would more likely use 叙旧 or 聊聊.
How do you pronounce it?
gǎnshàng
Did you know?
- If you are 'catching up' on sleep, you would not use 赶上 or 叙旧, but instead use 补 (bǔ), which means 'to patch' or 'to mend' a hole.
- While 赶上 means 'to catch up', the verb 赶 is also used to describe 'driving' livestock, such as sheep or cattle, to a destination.
- The word 赶 is used in the term 赶集 (gǎnjí), which refers to the act of hurrying to a periodic village market.
Examples in context
- 我尽快跑以赶上她。I ran as fast as possible to catch up with her.This sentence is useful for seeing how to express running to catch up with someone using 赶上.Tatoeba #1785941 by sadhen, translation #261207 by sundown
- 如果你快一点，还能赶上他。If you hurry, you will catch up with him.This sentence is useful for showing how to express catching up with someone by hurrying using 赶上.Tatoeba #332825 by fucongcong, translation #30901 by CK
- 她跑得很快是为了赶上其他成员。She ran very fast to catch up with the other members.This sentence is useful for seeing how someone runs fast to catch up with others using 赶上.Tatoeba #787041 by fucongcong, translation #315619 by CK
- 他努力学习，终于赶上了他的同学们。He studied hard and finally caught up with his classmates.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends meet for coffee after a long time.
- 俊杰 Junjie好久不见，我想赶上你的近况。Hǎojiǔ bùjiàn, wǒ xiǎng gǎnshàng nǐ de jìnkuàng.Long time no see, I want to catch up on your recent news.
- 梓涵 Zihan没问题，我有好多事情要告诉你。Méi wèntí, wǒ yǒu hǎoduō shìqíng yào gàosù nǐ.No problem, I have so many things to tell you.
- 俊杰 Junjie那你快跟我说说吧。Nà nǐ kuài gēn wǒ shuōshuō ba.Then tell me about it quickly.
- 梓涵 Zihan首先，我换了一份新工作。Shǒuxiān, wǒ huànle yī fèn xīn gōngzuò.First of all, I changed to a new job.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
