孤 meaning and stroke order
Orphaned; alone, lonely, solidary
How to write 孤, 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.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Meaning of 孤
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- lone
- lonely
How 孤 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Child.
子 gives the meaning and 瓜 hints at the sound.
Radical: 子 (son), shared by 30 characters on this site.
How to remember 孤
孤 is pictophonetic: 子 (zǐ, child) on the left gives the meaning, and 瓜 (guā, melon) on the right gives the sound gū. Picture a small child sitting alone next to a single melon, with no family around.
孤 rarely stands alone in modern speech and usually appears in words like 孤独 (gūdú, lonely), 孤单 (gūdān, lonely), and 孤儿 (gū'ér, orphan). Example: 他一个人住，觉得很孤单。(Tā yí gè rén zhù, juéde hěn gūdān.) He lives alone and feels very lonely.
Common mistake: Learners often write the right side as 爪 (zhǎo, claw) instead of 瓜 (guā), which has an extra inner hook-and-dot stroke. The tone is first tone gū, not third tone like 古 (gǔ).
Common words with 孤
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 孤独 | gūdú | lonely; solitary | HSK 6 |
| 孤儿 | gū'ér | orphan | HSK 6 |
| 孤单 | gūdān | lone; lonely | HSK 7-9 |
| 孤立 | gūlì | to isolate; isolated | HSK 7-9 |
| 孤零零 | gūlínglíng | lone; isolated and without help | HSK 7-9 |
| 孤陋寡闻 | gūlòu-guǎwén | ignorant and inexperienced; ill-informed and narrow-minded | HSK 7-9 |
| 孤儿院 | gū'éryuàn | orphanage; child asylum | |
| 孤寂 | gūjì | lonesome; desolate | |
| 孤注一掷 | gūzhùyīzhì | to stake all on one throw | |
| 孤岛 | gūdǎo | isolated island | |
| 孤僻 | gūpì | unsociable; withdrawn; reclusive | |
| 孤立无援 | gūlìwúyuán | isolated and without help | |
| 孤军奋战 | gūjūnfènzhàn | lit. lone army putting up a brave fight (idiom); fig. (of a person or group of people) str | |
| 孤身 | gūshēn | alone; lonely |
孤 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 孤
How many strokes are in 孤?
孤 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 孤 mean?
孤 (gū) means orphaned; alone, lonely, solidary. A common word with it is 孤独 (gūdú), meaning "lonely; solitary".
How do you pronounce 孤?
孤 is pronounced gū, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 孤?
The radical of 孤 is 子, which carries the idea of "son". Dictionaries list 孤 under this radical.
Is 孤 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 孤 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 孤独 and 孤单?
孤单 (gūdān) usually describes the simple state of being alone or having no company. 孤独 (gūdú) is deeper and more emotional, a sense of loneliness or isolation that can exist even among people.
How is 孤立 used?
孤立 (gūlì) can be an adjective meaning isolated or a verb meaning to isolate someone. For example, 不要孤立新同学 (bú yào gūlì xīn tóngxué) means do not isolate the new classmate.