一块(儿)/一塊(兒)

一块(儿)/一塊(兒)

yíkuài(r)

together

一起

一起

yìqǐ

together

Explanations

Yìqǐ 一起 ‘together’ and yíkuàir 一块儿 / 一塊兒 ‘together’ are scope adverbs that express joint action or shared participation. They are often interchangeable. Yìqǐ 一起 is neutral; yíkuàir 一块儿 / 一塊兒 is a bit more colloquial.

Structure

Basic structure

Yíkuàir 一块儿 / 一塊兒 and yìqǐ 一起 are placed before the main verb or verb phrase to express doing something together.

With conjunctions hé/gēn 和 / 跟 … ‘and …’

Hé 和 or gēn 跟 can be used to mark the person that the subject does something together with. The phrase hé/gēn 和 / 跟 + person normally comes before yíkuàir 一块儿 / 一塊(兒) or yìqǐ 一起. In this use, hé 和 and gēn 跟 are almost the same. Gēn 跟 is a bit more colloquial and hé 和 is more neutral.

Negation

Sentences with yíkuàir 一块儿 / 一塊兒 or yìqǐ 一起 are negated with bù 不 or méi 没 (for past events). The negation adverbs bù 不 and méi 没 are placed before  yíkuàir 一块儿 / 一塊兒 or yìqǐ 一起 to express the notion of ‘doing something but not together’.

Questions

Questions are formed with the particle ma 吗 at the end of the sentence.

Natural alternatives for yes–no questions include adding, for example, the expressions yào bú yào 要不要 ‘want or not’, néng bù néng 能不能 ‘can or not’ and shì bú shì 是不是 ‘be or not’ before yíkuàir 一块儿 / 一塊兒 or yìqǐ 一起.

With adverbs

Other scope adverbs such as yě 也 ‘also’ and dōu 都 ‘both; all’ can co-occur with and typically precede yíkuàir 一块儿 / 一塊兒 or yìqǐ 一起.

The following adverbs also commonly co-occur with yíkuàir 一块儿 / 一塊兒 or yìqǐ 一起 and also typically appear before yíkuàir 一块儿 / 一塊兒 or yìqǐ 一起:

• Temporal/frequency: yǐjīng 已经 ‘already’, chángcháng 常常 ‘often’, zǒngshì 总是 ‘always’, yǒu shíhou 有时候 ‘sometimes’, yòu 又 ‘again’, zài 再 ‘again’, yìzhí 一直 ‘continuosly’
• Attitude/possibility: kěnéng 可能 ‘maybe’
• Additive/continuative: hái 还 ‘also; still’

With modal verbs

Modal verbs such as kěyǐ  可以 ‘may, can, be allowed to’ or huì 会 ‘can; know how to’ precede yíkuàir 一块儿 / 一塊兒 or yìqǐ 一起.

Functions

1. Expressing shared participation

Yíkuàir 一块儿 / 一塊兒 or yìqǐ 一起 show that the action is done together by two or more people at the same time or in the same place.