Meaning of 国家
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- country; nation; state
How to use 国家
国家 is the everyday word for a country, as a place, a people, or a government. It often follows a number or question word with the measure word 个 (gè). Example: 你去过几个国家？(Nǐ qùguo jǐ ge guójiā?) How many countries have you been to?
国 (guó) shows a jade treasure 玉 guarded inside a border 囗, and 家 (jiā) is a home with a roof 宀. Put them together and a nation is the big home everyone shares inside one border.
Common mistake: Learners often write 囯 or put 王 inside the box. The standard simplified form has 玉, with a small dot at the lower right. Also keep 国 in the second tone (guó), not the third.
国家 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
国 guó · country · 8 strokes
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家 jiā · home · 10 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 国家.
| 回家 | huí jiā | to return home |
| 家里 | jiā li | home |
| 家人 | jiārén | family member; (old) servant |
| 中国 | Zhōngguó | China |
| 在家 | zàijiā | to be at home; (at a workplace) to be in (as opposed to being away on official business 出差 |
| 外国 | wàiguó | foreign country |
| 国外 | guó wài | abroad; external (affairs) |
| 大家 | dàjiā | everyone; influential family |
| 家庭 | jiātíng | family; household |
| 作家 | zuòjiā | author |
| 科学家 | kēxuéjiā | scientist |
| 国际 | guójì | international |
Questions about 国家
What does 国家 mean?
国家 (guójiā) means "country; nation; state" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 国家?
国家 is made of 2 characters: 国 (8 strokes), 家 (10 strokes). That is 18 strokes in total.
Is 国家 an HSK word?
Yes. 国家 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 国家 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 国家 is written 國家.
What is the difference between 国家 and 国?
国家 is the full standalone word for country. 国 on its own mostly appears inside compounds like 中国 (Zhōngguó) China or 外国 (wàiguó) foreign country. When you just mean 'a country', say 国家.
How do I say 'my country' in Chinese?
You can say 我的国家 (wǒ de guójiā), but in casual speech people often say 我们国家 (wǒmen guójiā), literally 'our country'. This sounds more natural when talking about where you are from.