(gū) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order

father's sister; husband's mother 8 strokes · Radical (woman) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 姑 when reading — handwriting it is not required (that applies to the 150 writing characters). The stroke animation below is optional but helps memory.

Pronunciation & meaning

Pronounced .

Stroke Order & Practice

Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
姑 — 8 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图(数字为下笔顺序)。

Decomposition

breaks down into 2 components arranged as Left + Right. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

=
left woman
right old

Radical

The radical of is — meaning woman. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.

Other HSK 4 characters that share this radical: .

How the character is built

is an ideographic compound — its meaning is suggested by the combination of its parts rather than by sound. An older 古 woman 女; 古 also provides the pronunciation.

HSK 4 Words Containing 姑

gūniang girl; young woman
那个姑娘长得很漂亮。
Nàge gūniang zhǎng de hěn piàoliang.
That girl is very pretty.

Tasks Featuring 姑 / 相关任务

Words containing appear in these official HSK 4 task scenarios — study the character in context:

📚 谈论某个人物
Describe a Person · 姑娘

FAQ

What does 姑 mean in Chinese?

姑 (gū) means father's sister; husband's mother. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 姑 have?

姑 is written in 8 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 姑?

The radical of 姑 is 女 (woman). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 娘.

What is the pinyin for 姑?

姑 is pronounced gū.

What HSK 4 words use 姑?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 姑 appears in 1 word, including 姑娘 (gūniang). See the full list above.

All Characters gǔ →