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

gòu to buy, to purchase 8 strokes · Radical (sea shell) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 购 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 gòu.

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
购 — 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 sea shell
right to hook

Radical

The radical of is — meaning sea shell. 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 a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component (money) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component originally indicated the sound.

HSK 4 Words Containing 购

gòumǎi to purchase; to buy
你可以在网上购买机票。
Nǐ kěyǐ zài wǎng shàng gòumǎi jīpiào.
You can purchase plane tickets online.
gòuwù to shop; shopping
她喜欢在周末购物。
Tā xǐhuan zài zhōumò gòuwù.
She likes to go shopping on weekends.
wǎnggòu online shopping
越来越多的人喜欢网购。
Yuèláiyuè duō de rén xǐhuan wǎnggòu.
More and more people prefer online shopping.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

appears in 22 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

按照规定,儿童乘坐飞机也需要买机票。
From Mock Exam 19 →
很多人愿意出高价买它,很多时候是被那些特别的酒瓶吸引了。
From Mock Exam 02 →
物时自备物袋,虽然是一件很小的事,对环境保护却有很大的作用。
From Mock Exam 19 →

Tasks Featuring 购 / 相关任务

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

📚 交流购物体验、商业活动内容
Shopping Experiences · 购买、购物、网购

FAQ

What does 购 mean in Chinese?

购 (gòu) means to buy, to purchase. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 购 have?

购 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 购?

The radical of 购 is 贝 (sea shell). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 资, 败, 费, 负, 贺.

What is the pinyin for 购?

购 is pronounced gòu.

What HSK 4 words use 购?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 购 appears in 3 words, including 购买 (gòumǎi), 购物 (gòuwù), 网购 (wǎnggòu). See the full list above.

gōng All Characters gū →