结婚
to get married
jiéhūn
What does 结婚 mean?
结婚 (jiéhūn) means 'to get married' — to enter the legal and social state of marriage. The most important grammar point: 结婚 is a 离合词 (separable verb), literally 'tie + marriage,' so you cannot say 结婚他/她. The correct pattern is 跟 + person + 结婚 — 跟他结婚 ('marry him'), 和她结婚 ('marry her'). For time and frequency, the verb splits: 结过婚 ('have been married'), 结了三次婚 ('married three times'). 结婚 names the act and the state of marriage; the wedding event itself is 婚礼 (hūnlǐ).
For asking 'are you married?' Chinese typically uses 你结婚了吗? (have you married yet?) with the perfective 了
Character breakdown
to tie; to knot; to bond
marriage
Memory hook: 结 (tie) + 婚 (marriage) = tying the marriage knot. The English idiom maps directly onto the Chinese characters.
Example sentences
他们去年结婚了。
Tāmen qùnián jiéhūn le.
They got married last year.
neutral
你结婚了吗？
Nǐ jiéhūn le ma?
Are you married?
spoken
她想跟他结婚。
Tā xiǎng gēn tā jiéhūn.
She wants to marry him.
neutral
我哥哥下个月要结婚了。
Wǒ gēge xià ge yuè yào jiéhūn le.
My older brother is getting married next month.
spoken
Common phrases with 结婚
Hear it in real Fluentide episodes
结婚 appears in 2 podcast episodes at natural native speed, with full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
Synonyms
成家 ('to start a family, to settle down through marriage') emphasizes the social step of building a family. 结婚 is the literal act of marrying. Parents asking when a child will 成家 often mean settling down with marriage and kids, not just the wedding day.
Don't confuse 结婚 with
婚礼 is the wedding ceremony — the event with rings, vows, and guests. 结婚 is the broader act and state of getting married. You attend a 婚礼; you 结婚.
结束 ('to end, to finish') shares the first character 结 but means the opposite of starting. 结婚 starts a marriage; 结束 ends an activity.
结果 ('result, outcome')