和 hé — and (joining nouns)

Meanings

1. 1

   and (joining nouns)

   Joins nouns or noun phrases only. It cannot link two clauses or two verbs the way English "and" does — Chinese simply places those one after the other.

   conjunction
2. 2

   with (doing something together)

   preposition

Example sentences

• 我和他是同学。/我和他是同學。Wǒ (third tone, dipping) hé (second tone, rising) tā (first tone, high and level) shì (fourth tone, falling) tóngxué. (second tone, rising)···

  He and I are classmates.

• 我买了苹果和水果。/我買了蘋果和水果。Wǒ (third tone, dipping) mǎile (third tone, dipping) píngguǒ (second tone, rising) hé (second tone, rising) shuǐguǒ. (third tone, dipping)···

  I bought apples and other fruit.

Common mistakes

• Not quite我吃饭和看电视。

  Correct我吃饭，看电视。

  和 links nouns, never actions. Two things you do are simply placed one after the other, with a comma or with 然后 later on.

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