prep., conj.
To follow behind a person's heel, moving exactly with them. With, in company of; and (connecting two nouns in a sentence).
跟
n., v.
heel (noun); to follow (verb)
Common Usage & Traps
- 跟朋友聊天 — to chat with friends (two-way)
- 跟老师学中文 — to learn Chinese with/from a teacher
- 我跟他都是学生 — he and I are both students
- 跟我来 — follow me / come with me
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我聊天跟他我跟他聊天The 跟 phrase always sits before the verb. English puts 'with him' after 'chat,' Chinese does not.
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我对他聊天我跟他聊天聊天 takes two mouths. 对 aims something one-way at a listener, so it can't hold a mutual action.
What's the difference between 对他说 and 跟他说?
对 points at a listener; 跟 means you're both in it together.
我对他说 means you aimed a message at him, like handing someone a note. 我跟他聊天 means you both talked, back and forth. Mutual actions such as 聊天, 吵架, 商量, 见面, 结婚 always take 跟 and never 对. One-way actions like 说, 讲, 解释, 道歉 can take 对, which puts the spotlight on the listener. In daily talk 我跟他说 is also fine, but it paints a chat instead of an announcement. Saying 我对他聊天 sounds broken because 聊天 needs two mouths.
“老北京们去茶馆，就是因为想喝茶，也为了跟朋友说说话什么的。” (Old-time Beijingers went to teahouses simply because they wanted tea, and also to chat with friends and such.)
“老北京们去茶馆，就是因为想喝茶，也为了跟朋友说说话什么的。” (Old-time Beijingers went to teahouses simply because they wanted tea, and also to chat with friends and such.)
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Two-way activity | 我跟他聊了半小时 | 我对他聊了半小时 |
| Aimed at one listener | 我对他说了句谢谢 | 我说了句谢谢对他 |
Can you swap 和 and 跟 when you mean 'and'?
Both link two people, but 跟 is chatty and 和 stays neutral.
我跟他是同事 and 我和他是同事 both mean 'he and I are colleagues.' 跟 belongs to casual speech: WeChat, dinner, gossip with your neighbor. 和 is the neutral one that also survives in emails, essays, and news reports. When you join objects rather than people, 和 is usually the safer pick, like 桌子和椅子. Use 跟 with your roommate and 和 in your cover letter.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday talk | 我跟他是同事 | 和 sounds stiff in gossip |
| Email, essays, news | 我和他是同事 | 跟 sounds too casual |
Do you have to add 一起 after 跟?
No — 跟 already says the two of you are in it together.
我跟朋友吃饭 and 我跟朋友一起吃饭 both sound native; 一起 just shouts 'the two of us, together.' The broken version is 我跟朋友一起 with no verb dangling off the end. 一起 needs a real action to chew on, so 一起吃饭, 一起走, 一起看电影 all work fine. Word order matters too: 一起 comes after the 跟 phrase, never in front of it.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| With a real action | 我跟朋友一起吃饭 | 我跟朋友一起 |
| Word order | 我跟朋友一起看电影 | 我一起跟朋友看电影 |
Why does 跟我来 mean 'follow me' if 跟 means 'with'?
跟 is also a real verb: to follow, to tag along behind someone.
跟我来 is what a tour guide yells before marching off: the speaker walks first and you trail behind. That's why 跟 flips from 'with' into its older verb sense of following. 跟着我 means the same thing, with a stronger 'stay close to my back' feeling. Keep it apart from 我跟他来, which just reports 'I came along with him.' You will hear 跟我来 from teachers, tour guides, and anyone dragging you through a crowd.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Giving an order | 跟我来 / 跟着我 | 跟我 (no verb after) |
| Joining him | 我跟他去 | 跟我来 (that's an order, not a report) |
Appears in Stories 4 stories
Real context sentences across different daily scenarios and graded readings.
Learn the fascinating story behind the Chinese idiom '东山再起' (Dongshan Zaiji), which means to make a comeback. Discover its historical roots and modern usage.
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朋友 跟 他开玩笑说：“你以前一直待在东山，现在终于愿意出来重新开始了。”
Why would a millionaire leave a table of lobster and wagyu untouched? This story explores the hidden rules of business dining and the true cost of staying alert.
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昨晚 跟 一个身家过亿的外贸老板同席吃饭，突然发现一个挺扎心的社交真相。
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他一直在说话， 跟 左边的人谈汇率， 跟 右边的人谈仓储。
Is four years to reach HSK 5 fast or slow? Follow a conversation between two learners as they compare study hours and share realistic strategies for busy adults.
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我这四年上网 跟 老师上课，学了最多四百个学时。
Ever wondered where old Beijing's tea-drinking culture has gone? Follow a visitor discovering why locals now avoid famous tea houses—and practice expressing surprise and comparisons in Chinese along the way.
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老北京们去茶馆，就是因为想喝茶，也为了 跟 朋友说说话什么的。
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