HSK 6 · Verbs

依靠 yīkào “to rely on” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 依靠 means

  1. to rely on
  2. to depend on
  3. support

How to say 依靠

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale依yī1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale靠kào4th tone, falling

依靠 in a sentence

  1. 你可以依靠他。

    Nǐ kěyǐ yīkào tā.

    You can rely on him.

    Sentence #1780770 from Tatoeba

  2. 她现在依然依靠父母生活。

    Tā xiànzài yīrán yīkào fùmǔ shēnghuó.

    She still relies on her parents to support her.

    Sentence #1501745 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 这个岛的经济依靠的是渔业。

    Zhè ge dǎo de jīngjì yīkào de shì yúyè.

    The island’s economy depends on fishing.

    Sentence #415637 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 依靠 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 依 (yī) with each of its parts in a different colour
依yīto depend on
  • 亻person form of 人 · rénMeaning part
  • 衣clothes · yīSound part

亻 hints at the meaning (person); 衣 (yī) hints at the sound. Compare it with yī.

The character 靠 (kào) with each of its parts in a different colour
靠kàoto lean against or on
  • 告to tell · gàoSound part
  • 非wrong · fēiMeaning part

非 hints at the meaning (wrong); 告 (gào) hints at the sound. Compare it with kào.

How to write 依靠

依 8 strokes · 靠 15 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

依靠 (yīkào) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 依靠 (yīkào). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 依靠

Words with 依

依然yīrán · still依赖yīlài · to depend on依托yītuō · to rely on依据yījù · basis依旧yījiù · as before

Words with 靠

靠kào · to lean on可靠kěkào · reliable靠拢kàolǒng · to draw close

More words: Common Verbs

摇摆yáobǎi · to sway压缩yāsuō · to compress压榨yāzhà · to squeeze压制yāzhì · to suppress依赖yīlài · to depend on遗留yíliú · to be left over引导yǐndǎo · to guide应邀yìngyāo · at someone’s invitation

FAQs

依靠 (yīkào) means “to rely on” or “to depend on”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it yīkào: yī with a 1st tone, then kào with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 依靠 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yikao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 依靠 from the suggestions. Typing yikao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
依靠 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.