送 (sòng): to send, to give

送 (sòng) is a Chinese character meaning “to send, to give.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 辶 (structural) and 关 (structural). It ranks #656 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 送 a person waving 关 to someone walking away 辶. Its radical form 辶 (walk) appears in many related characters such as 边 (biān, side), 过 (guò, to pass, past), 还 (hái, still, return).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to send, to give

Etymology & Origin

送

ideographicA person waving 关 to someone walking away 辶

Decomposition: ⿺辶关 (layout: surround-from-lower-left)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Practice writing 送 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 送

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
发送verbfā sòngto transmit4
运送verbyùn sòngto transport6
赠送verbzèng sòngto present as a gift5
输送verbshū sòngto transport6
配送verbpèi sòngto put together an order and deliver it (i.e. 配貨|配货 and 送貨|送货)5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
送给sòng gěito send
传送verbchuán sòngto convey
护送verbhù sòngto escort
送命verbsòng mìngto lose one's life
送货verbsòng huòto deliver goods
送死verbsòng sǐto throw away one's life
押送verbyā sòngto convey (a prisoner or valuable items etc) under escort
送礼verbsòng lǐto give a present
遣送verbqiǎn sòngto send away
接送verbjiē sòngto pick up and drop off
转送verbzhuǎn sòngto pass (sth) on (to sb else)
断送verbduàn sòngto forfeit (future profit, one's life etc)
葬送verbzàng sòngto hold a funeral procession and burial
递送verbdì sòngto send (a message)
送行verbsòng xíngto see someone off
100
Total compounds
33
As first character
41
As last character
26
As middle character

送 appears in 100 compound words: 33 as the first character, 41 as the last, and 26 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 送 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

放fàng
0.53541,054 co-occurrences
赠zèng
0.4974,348 co-occurrences
往wǎng
0.46322,740 co-occurrences
押yā
0.4573,458 co-occurrences
给gěi
0.4519,476 co-occurrences
输shū
0.4475,646 co-occurrences
坪píng
0.43020 co-occurrences
到dào
0.41435,254 co-occurrences
被bèi
0.41235,182 co-occurrences
护hù
0.4086,520 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (12)

暗送秋波ànsòngqiūbōHSK 7+

to give someone the eye; to cast coquettish glances at someone; to curry favour with someone secretly

phrase
利益输送lì yì shū sòngHSK 5+

to make use of one's position to gain profit for oneself or one's associates

phrase
买一送一mǎiyīsòngyīHSK 2+

synonym of 買一贈一 /买一赠一 (mǎiyīzèngyī, “buy one and get one free”)

phrase
送货到家sòng huò dào jiāHSK 4+

home delivery

phrase
送旧迎新sòngjiùyíngxīnHSK 3+

to let go of the old and welcome in the new

phrase
送往迎来sòng wǎng yíng láiHSK 3+

see 迎來送往|迎来送往

phrase
雪中送炭xuězhōngsòngtànHSK 7+

to help someone in their hour of need

phrase
旬输月送xún shū yuè sòngHSK 6+

pay every ten days, give tribute every month (idiom); incessant and ever more complicated demands

phrase
养老送终yǎng lǎo sòng zhōngHSK 3+

to look after one's aged parents and arrange proper burial after they die

phrase
养生送死yǎng shēng sòng sǐHSK 4+

to be looked after in life and given a proper burial thereafter (idiom)

phrase

Showing 10 of 12 idioms containing 送.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

快递已经送出去了,预计明天可以到达。

Kuàidì yǐjīng sòng chūqu le, yùjì míngtiān kěyǐ dàodá.

The express delivery has been sent out; it is expected to arrive tomorrow.

Fx168 Finance NetworkFeb 2026

太意外!?特朗普15%全球关税为中国送上“减税大礼”,英法日德成“最大输家”-...

tài yì wài ! ? tè lǎng pǔ 1 5 quán qiú guān shuì wéi zhōng guó sòng shàng jiǎn shuì dà lǐ , yīng fǎ rì dé chéng zuì dà shū jiā . . .

It's so unexpected!? Trump's 15% global tariff has sent a "tax cut gift" to China, and Britain, France and Japan have become the "biggest losers"-...

百度新闻Feb 2026

新春中国行丨中国年遇上“送冬节”:中俄民众共赴春天..

xīn chūn zhōng guó háng 丨 zhōng guó nián yù shàng sòng dōng jié : zhōng é mín zhòng gòng fù chūn tiān . .

New Year China Tour丨Chinese New Year meets "Winter Festival": Chinese and Russian people go to spring together:

百度新闻Feb 2026

小伙出售前女友送的银手镯,剪开发现内芯为30克高纯..

xiǎo huǒ chū shòu qián nǚ yǒu sòng de yín shǒu 镯 , jiǎn kāi fā xiàn nèi xīn wéi kè gāo chún . .

The guy sold his ex-girlfriend to send the silver bracelet, cut open and found that the core for 30 grams of high-purity...

百度新闻Feb 2026

新春走基层丨护送万千乡愁 奔赴团圆之路

xīn chūn zǒu jī céng 丨 hù sòng mò qiān xiāng chóu bēn fù tuán yuán zhī lù

New Year walk grassroots 丨 escort thousands of nostalgia to the reunion road

百度新闻Feb 2026

子弟兵给您送祝福啦,快来签收!

zǐ dì bīng gěi nín sòng zhù fú lā , kuài lái qiān shōu !

Our troops are sending you blessings—come sign for them!

Tatoeba

喂,请问现在能给我马上送一叠稿子吗?

Wèi, qǐngwèn xiànzài néng gěi wǒ mǎshàng sòng yī dié gǎozi ma?

Hey, could you send over a stack of manuscripts straight away?

Tatoeba

你可以把我的早餐送到305房间吗?

Nǐ kěyǐ bǎ wǒ de zǎocān sòng dào 305 fángjiān ma?

Could you bring my breakfast to room 305?

Tatoeba

昨晚你把她送回家了吗?

Zuówǎn nǐ bǎ tā sòng huíjiā le ma?

Did you drive her home last night?

Tatoeba

你能把它送到这个地址吗?

Nǐ néng bǎ tā sòng dào zhège dìzhǐ ma?

Please deliver it to this address.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced sòng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 送 (sòng) mean in Chinese?
送 (sòng) primarily means "to send, to give." It is classified as HSK Level 2, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #656 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 送 and 接?
送 (sòng) and 接 (jiē) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 送 (give) vs 接 (receive).
How many strokes does 送 have?
送 is written with 9 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 送?
The radical associated with 送 is 辶 (walk). This radical appears in many characters related to walk.
What are the components of 送?
送 is composed of: 辶 (structural), 关 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿺辶关 with a surround-from-lower-left layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 送?
Common words with 送 include: 送给 (sòng gěi, "to send"); 发送 (fā sòng, "to transmit"); 传送 (chuán sòng, "to convey"); 护送 (hù sòng, "to escort"); 运送 (yùn sòng, "to transport"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 送 (sòng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation sòng: 松 (pine, loose), 宋 (the Song dynasty (960–1279)), 讼 (litigation), 耸 (to excite), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 送 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 送 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 送 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.