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

drum; to beat, to strike; to rouse 13 strokes · Radical (drum) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 鼓 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 9 10 11 12 13
鼓 — 13 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 drum
right to support

Radical

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

How the character is built

is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component (drum) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component originally indicated the sound.

HSK 4 Words Containing 鼓

gǔlì to encourage
老师经常鼓励我们多读书。
Lǎoshī jīngcháng gǔlì wǒmen duō dú shū.
The teacher often encourages us to read more.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

appears in 24 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

你最好找个时间跟他谈一下,让他不要有压力,励他好好准备下次比赛。
From Mock Exam 16 →

Tasks Featuring 鼓 / 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 · 鼓励

FAQ

What does 鼓 mean in Chinese?

鼓 (gǔ) means drum; to beat, to strike; to rouse. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 鼓 have?

鼓 is written in 13 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 鼓?

The radical of 鼓 is 鼓 (drum).

What is the pinyin for 鼓?

鼓 is pronounced gǔ.

What HSK 4 words use 鼓?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 鼓 appears in 1 word, including 鼓励 (gǔlì). See the full list above.

All Characters guāng →