咕 meaning and stroke order
Mumble, mutter, murmur; rumble
How to write 咕, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 咕
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (onom.) for the sound of a bird, an empty stomach etc
How 咕 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 古 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 咕
咕 combines 口 (mouth), the meaning part, with 古 (gǔ), which gives the sound. Picture a mouth making a low, old-sounding "gu gu" noise, like a mumble or a rumbling stomach.
咕 is mostly used for sounds, and it rarely appears alone. It shows up in words like 咕噜 (gūlu, rumble), 嘀咕 (dígu, to mutter) and 咕哝 (gūnong, to mumble). Example: 我的肚子咕噜咕噜地叫。 (Wǒ de dùzi gūlu gūlu de jiào.) My stomach is rumbling.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 咕 (gū) with 古 (gǔ, ancient) and 姑 (gū, aunt), because all three share 古. Remember that 咕 has 口 on the left because it is about sounds from the mouth. Also note that in 嘀咕 (dígu) the 咕 is read in the neutral tone.
Common words with 咕
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
咕 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 咕
How many strokes are in 咕?
咕 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 咕 mean?
咕 (gū) means mumble, mutter, murmur; rumble. A common word with it is 咕噜 (gūlu), meaning "(onom.) to rumble (of a stomach); to coo (of a dove)".
How do you pronounce 咕?
咕 is pronounced gū, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 咕?
The radical of 咕 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 咕 under this radical.
What does 嘀咕 mean besides muttering?
嘀咕 (dígu) can also mean to have doubts or feel uneasy inside. For example, 心里直嘀咕 (xīnli zhí dígu) means someone keeps worrying or wondering about something.
Can 咕 describe animal sounds?
Yes. 咕 imitates sounds like a bird cooing or a dove calling, often repeated as 咕咕 (gūgū). 咕噜 can also describe the cooing of a dove.