The word 与其 is formed by combining the character 与, a conjunction meaning "and" or "with", and the character 其, a pronoun meaning "his", "her", "its", or "that". This combination creates a compound conjunction that grammatically functions to introduce a clause representing a less desirable choice, which is then contrasted with a preferred alternative, as seen in structures like 与其...不如.... The formation results from the historical use of these characters in Classical Chinese, where they were used together to establish a comparative relationship, eventually lexicalizing into a fixed word with this specific function.