小狗
xiǎo gǒu · puppy; little dog
他有一只小狗。
He has a puppy.
Chinese character · HSK 2
狗 (gǒu) — “dog”
The left radical '犭' indicates it's an animal, while the right component '句' (historically providing the sound) is visually reimagined as the dog's hanging leash and square name tag.
Memory cue
The loyal dog (犭) sits patiently beside its hanging curved leash and square tag (句), waiting for a walk.
Video mnemonic
Watch 狗 in motion
See the visual story unfold, then connect it to the words and sentences below.
Common ways to use 狗
狗 means “dog” directly in 小狗, but in 热狗 the whole word names the food “hot dog.”
热狗
rè gǒu · hot dog
我午饭吃了一个热狗。
I had a hot dog for lunch.
Usage note: Despite 狗, 热狗 names a food, not a kind of dog.
Inside the character
- 犭 (beast / dog) — meaning component. The dog side — often marks four-legged animals or wild beasts.
- 句 (sentence / clause) — sound component.
Where 狗 comes from
A phono-semantic compound where '犭' (a variant of 犬, dog) provides the meaning, and '句' provides the historical pronunciation.
Don’t mix up 狗
These characters are close enough in shape to misread at speed. Telling them apart is a matter of spotting the one component that differs.
- 猫 (māo, cat) — Both contain 犭 — the rest of the character is what tells them apart.
- 猪 (zhū, pig) — Both contain 犭 — the rest of the character is what tells them apart.
Learn 狗 the visual way. InkSeal pairs every HSK 1–6
character with an illustration like this one, Common-use words and sentences,
component breakdowns, etymology, and recall-first review. The first 100
characters are free.
More characters: 画 (huà, to draw / picture) · 看 (kàn, to look / to see) · 竹 (zhú, bamboo) — or browse the full character library.