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.
How to remember 狗
The loyal dog (犭) sits patiently beside its hanging curved leash and square tag (句), waiting for a walk.
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.
Words that use 狗
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 小狗 | xiǎo gǒu | puppy | HSK 2 |
| 热狗 | rè gǒu | hot dog | HSK 2 |
| 狗 | gǒu | dog | HSK 2 |
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More characters: 画 (huà, to draw / picture) · 看 (kàn, to look / to see) · 竹 (zhú, bamboo) — or browse the full character library.