溝 meaning and stroke order
Ditch, drain, gutter, narrow waterway
How to write 溝, stroke by stroke
13 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 溝
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- ditch
- gutter
- groove
- gully
- ravine
How 溝 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 冓 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 溝
溝 combines the water radical 氵 with 冓 (gòu), which gives the sound. Picture water running along a carefully built channel, and you have a ditch or drain.
溝 is the traditional form; in mainland China you will usually see 沟. It appears in words for drains and channels like 水溝 (shuǐgōu) and 壕溝 (háogōu), and in the very common verb 溝通 (gōutōng), to communicate. Example: 我們需要好好溝通。(Wǒmen xūyào hǎohǎo gōutōng.) We need to communicate properly.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 溝 with 講 (jiǎng, to speak) or 構 (gòu, to construct), since all three share 冓. Check the left side: water 氵 means ditch, speech 言 means speak, wood 木 means build.
Common words with 溝
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 溝
How many strokes are in 溝?
溝 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 溝 mean?
溝 (gōu) means ditch, drain, gutter, narrow waterway. A common word with it is 沟通 (gōutōng), meaning "to join; to connect; to link up; to communicate".
How do you pronounce 溝?
溝 is pronounced gōu, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 溝?
The radical of 溝 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 溝 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 溝?
溝 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 沟, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does 溝通 mean to communicate if 溝 means ditch?
溝通 originally meant to dig a channel that links two bodies of water. The idea of connecting two places was extended to connecting people, so it now mainly means to communicate.
Is 溝 pronounced the same as 狗 (gǒu, dog)?
No. 溝 is first tone gōu, while 狗 is third tone gǒu. Saying 溝通 with a third tone sounds wrong to native speakers, so keep the tone high and level.