▎靠, kào, (V / Prep), to rely on, by means of

 

Function As a main verb, 靠 means ‘to rely on, to lean against’, but when it is the first verb in a sentence with two verbs, its meaning is reduced to ‘by means of’ with 靠 acting more like a preposition.

(As a main verb)

1 有句話說，「在家靠父母，出外靠朋友」，說明了家人和朋友的重要。

Yǒu jù huà shuō, ‘zà ijiā kào fùmǔ, chū wài kào péngyǒu’, shuōmíngle jiārén hàn péngyǒu de zhòngyào.

There’s a saying, ‘When at home, rely on your parents, when away from home, depend on friends.’ It underscores the importance of family and friends.

(As a preposition)

2 他靠自己的努力賺錢買了這棟房子。

Tā kào zìjǐ de nǔlì zhuànqián mǎile zhè dòng fángzi.

He bought this house with his own hard-earned money.

3 現在工作非常難找。我是靠朋友幫忙才找到的。

Xiànzài gōngzuò fēicháng nán zhǎo. Wǒ shì kào péngyǒu bāngmáng cái zhǎodào de.

Jobs are hard to find now. I found mine through friends’ help.

4 他靠打工賺的錢養家。生活過得並不輕鬆。

Tā kào dǎgōng zhuàn de qián yǎngjiā. Shēnghuó guò de bìng bù qīngsōng.

He supports his family with money earned with a part-time job. His life is by no means easy.

5 張太太的孩子在國外工作。她靠電子郵件跟網路電話了解孩子生活的情形。

Zhāng tàitai de háizi zài guówài gōngzuò. Tā kào diànzǐ yóujiàn gēn wǎnglù diànhuà liǎojiě háizi shēnghuó de qíngxíng.

Mrs. Zhang’s children work abroad. She keeps up to date with their lives by means of email and internet phone.