挨家挨户
āi jiā āi hù
from door to door; every single household
Character by character
挨āi
one by one
one by one
家jiā
family
family
挨āi
one by one
one by one
户hù
household
household
Example
垃圾分类刚开始那年，志愿者挨家挨户发传单，教大家怎么分。
The year sorting began, volunteers went from door to door handing out leaflets and showing people how to sort.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
挨 is āi here, “one after another”, not ái “to suffer”. It describes the act of going round: 挨家挨户地通知／走访／检查. 家家户户 just means “every household”.
Learn this in Lesson 12 · HSK 5: 小区生活与垃圾分类 (Life in the compound, and sorting the rubbish)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
Open the lesson →