走进
zǒujìn · HSK 2
to enter; to step into
🚪 走 = walk + 进 = enter; together: walk into a place
走 means walk/go and 进 means enter/advance. The compound literally reads walk-enter, so 走进 = step into, walk in, go inside. Used for entering rooms, buildings, or figuratively entering a stage of life.
走 — person running 夭 + foot 止
Originally a pictograph of a person with arms swinging (夭) above a foot (止), depicting someone running. The bottom 止 (foot) was later simplified to a form resembling 火 in modern script. The original sense was 'to run,' which still survives in compounds; the everyday meaning shifted to 'to walk' or 'to go.'
进 — walk radical 辶 + well 井
Originally a semantic-phonetic compound: the walking radical 辶 gives the meaning of movement, while 井 (jǐng, 'well') supplied the sound. The traditional form 進 used 隹 (short-tailed bird) suggesting forward flight; the simplified 进 swapped 隹 for the simpler phonetic 井. The core meaning 'to advance, enter' has stayed stable.