进行

When you use 进行, you are essentially saying that someone is 'conducting' or 'carrying out' an action. Think of it as a formal way to say 'do.' Instead of just saying 'We do a meeting,' you would use 进行 to say 'We are conducting a meeting.' It adds a layer of professionalism to your sentence.

This word is very common in academic and business settings. It helps describe things that are currently in progress. It is a workhorse word in Chinese because it allows you to turn nouns into actions by placing them after the verb.

The word 进行 is a classic compound word. The character 进 (jìn) means to enter or advance, while 行 (xíng) means to walk, move, or do. Historically, these characters were used to describe physical movement. Over centuries, the meaning evolved from 'moving forward' to 'moving forward with a task' or 'executing a plan.'

In classical Chinese, these characters were often separate, but as the language evolved into the modern vernacular, they merged into a single verb to describe the flow of an activity. It reflects the Chinese cultural value of systematic progress—moving forward through a sequence of steps.

You will mostly find 进行 used in formal writing or professional speech. It is rarely used for casual, everyday tasks like 'doing the laundry.' Instead, use it for investigations, negotiations, or discussions.

Common collocations include 进行讨论 (to conduct a discussion) or 进行调查 (to carry out an investigation). It acts as a support verb, helping to make a sentence sound more structured and deliberate. If you want to sound like a professional, this is a must-have word in your vocabulary.

While 进行 is a verb, it appears in many formal phrases. 1. 进行到底: To carry through to the end. 2. 进行中: In progress. 3. 进行交涉: To conduct negotiations. 4. 进行改革: To carry out reforms. 5. 进行干预: To intervene. These phrases are essential for describing ongoing processes in news or business reports.

Pronounced jìn xíng, the first syllable has a falling fourth tone, and the second has a rising second tone. It is a transitive verb that typically requires an object. You cannot just say 'We are 进行.' You must say 'We are 进行 [the activity].'

It is often used with the progressive aspect marker 正在 (zhèngzài) to emphasize that the action is currently happening. For example: 正在进行 (is currently being conducted).