去 meaning and stroke order
To go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last
How to write 去, stroke by stroke
5 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Meaning of 去
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to go
- to go to (a place)
- (of a time etc) last
- just passed
- to send
- to remove
How 去 is built
Components of the character.
Radical: 厶 (private), shared by 11 characters on this site.
How to remember 去
去 has 土 (tǔ, earth) on top and 厶 below. Picture a small figure 厶 walking away under the ground line 土, heading off to somewhere else.
去 (qù) is the everyday verb for going to a place, and the place comes right after it with no preposition needed. It also follows other verbs to show movement away from the speaker, as in 出去 (chūqù) and 回去 (huíqù), and in 去年 (qùnián) it means last year. Example: 我明天去北京。(Wǒ míngtiān qù Běijīng.) I am going to Beijing tomorrow.
Common mistake: Learners often add 到 or 在 and say 我去到学校 when 我去学校 (wǒ qù xuéxiào) is enough. Also, 去 means going away from the speaker, so use 来 (lái) instead when someone is coming toward you.
Common words with 去
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 出去 | chūqù | to go out | HSK 1 |
| 回去 | huíqù | to return; to go back | HSK 1 |
| 进去 | jìnqù | to go in | HSK 1 |
| 去年 | qùnián | last year | HSK 1 |
| 过去 | guòqù | (in the) past; former; previous; to go over; to pass by | HSK 2 |
| 失去 | shīqù | to lose | HSK 3 |
| 下去 | xiàqù | to go down; to descend | HSK 3 |
| 看上去 | kàn shàngqù | it would appear; it seems (that) | HSK 3 |
| 上去 | shàngqù | to go up | HSK 3 |
| 去世 | qùshì | to pass away; to die | HSK 3 |
| 去掉 | qùdiào | to get rid of; to exclude | HSK 6 |
| 去向 | qùxiàng | direction in which sb or sth has gone; whereabouts | HSK 7-9 |
| 过不去 | guòbuqù | to make life difficult for; to embarrass | HSK 7-9 |
| 除去 | chúqù | to eliminate; to remove | HSK 7-9 |
去 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 去
Learning 去 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 去
How many strokes are in 去?
去 is written with 5 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 去 mean?
去 (qù) means to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last. A common word with it is 出去 (chūqù), meaning "to go out".
How do you pronounce 去?
去 is pronounced qù, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 去?
The radical of 去 is 厶, which carries the idea of "private". Dictionaries list 去 under this radical.
Is 去 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 去 is part of the HSK 1 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 1.
What is the difference between 去 and 走?
去 (qù) means to go to a destination, so it is usually followed by a place. 走 (zǒu) means to walk or to leave, as in 我走了 (wǒ zǒu le), I'm off. You would not say 我走北京 to mean I am going to Beijing.
Why does 去年 mean last year and not next year?
Here 去 carries its sense of something that has gone past. 去年 (qùnián) is the year that has already left, just as 过去 (guòqù) means the past. For next year, say 明年 (míngnián).