赶紧
gǎnjǐn · HSK 3
hurriedly
🏃💨 赶 = chase/hurry + 紧 = tight/urgent → hurry urgently, double-quick
赶 means to chase, drive, or rush; 紧 means tight, taut, or urgent. Together they stack two urgency words: rush + urgently = hasten, lose no time. Often used like 赶紧走 (leave right away).
赶 — walk radical 走 + 旱 (gan, phonetic)
赶 combines 走 'to walk/run' as the meaning component with 旱 as the phonetic clue for the sound gǎn. The walking radical points to its core meanings: to hurry, to chase, or to drive (animals) along. The simplified form replaced the older 趕, which used 倝 as phonetic.
紧 — 臣 minister + 又 hand on top + 糸 silk below
Originally written 緊, this character combines 臤 (a hand 又 grasping firmly, with 臣 as phonetic) over 糸 'silk thread'. The image is of silk threads pulled taut by hand, giving the core meaning 'tight, taut'. From there it extended to 'urgent' and 'pressing'.