How to Write 赶 (gǎn) — Meaning “to hurry; to catch; to drive away”

Imagine you are walking (走) and you see a dry (干) road ahead — you must hurry to cross before it becomes wet. The image of rushing on a dry path helps link the components to the meaning "to hurry."

Pay attention to the bottom of 走: it has a horizontal stroke followed by a left-falling stroke and then a curved stroke ending in a gentle flick upwards. The right side 干 should be balanced vertically, with its top horizontal stroke aligned slightly below the top of the left radical. Common mistakes include making the 走 too wide or misplacing the 干 too high.

赶 (gǎn) means "to hurry" or "to catch up," while 赳 (jiū) is rarely used alone and appears in words like 赳赳 meaning "valiant." 赴 (fù) means "to go to" or "to attend," as in 赴约 (to go to an appointment). Visually, 赶 uses 走 with 干, 赳 uses 走 with 九, and 赴 uses 走 with 卜.

Use 赶 to express urgency, catching a bus or deadline, like 赶时间 (to be in a hurry) or 赶上 (to catch up). It is common in daily speech, such as 赶快 (quickly) when telling someone to act fast. There is no special cultural note, but it appears frequently in travel and work contexts.

Common words containing 赶 include: 赶快 (gǎn kuài) — quickly; at once; 赶上 (gǎn shàng) — to catch up with; to keep up with; 赶时间 (gǎn shí jiān) — to be in a hurry; to be pressed for time.