跑步
pǎo bù · HSK 3
to run
🏃 跑 = run + 步 = step; running-steps = to run/jog
跑 (pǎo) means to run; 步 (bù) means step or pace. Together 跑步 literally reads as running-steps, the everyday word for jogging. The military sense march at the double extends the same running-pace idea.
跑 — foot 足 + wrap 包
A semantic-phonetic compound. The foot radical 足 gives the meaning (an action done with the feet), while 包 (bāo) hints at the sound, shifted to pǎo. Originally it could mean an animal pawing the ground, later generalizing to 'run'.
步 — two feet: 止 (foot) on top + 止 inverted below
Originally a pictograph showing two footprints, one above the other, representing the act of walking step by step. The top 止 is a left foot and the bottom is a right foot, capturing alternating strides. The meaning extended from 'step' to 'pace,' 'stage,' or 'walk.'
pǎo bù · HSK 2
to run; to jog
🏃 跑 = run + 步 = step; literally 'running steps'
跑 (pǎo) means to run, and 步 (bù) means step or pace. Together 跑步 is the everyday word for running or jogging — the act of taking running steps.
跑 — foot 足 + wrap 包
A semantic-phonetic compound. The foot radical 足 gives the meaning (an action done with the feet), while 包 (bāo) hints at the sound, shifted to pǎo. Originally it could mean an animal pawing the ground, later generalizing to 'run'.
步 — two feet: 止 (foot) on top + 止 inverted below
Originally a pictograph showing two footprints, one above the other, representing the act of walking step by step. The top 止 is a left foot and the bottom is a right foot, capturing alternating strides. The meaning extended from 'step' to 'pace,' 'stage,' or 'walk.'