Meaning of 故事
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- narrative; story; tale
- old practice
How to use 故事
故事 is the everyday word for a story, from bedtime tales to the story of someone's life. It often pairs with the verb 讲 (jiǎng) or 说 (shuō). Example: 妈妈每天晚上给我讲故事。(Māma měitiān wǎnshang gěi wǒ jiǎng gùshi.) Mom tells me a story every night.
故 (gù) means old or past, and 事 (shì) means a matter or event. A 故事 is an event from the past that someone tells you, which is a story.
Common mistake: Learners often say gùshì with a full fourth tone on 事. In the common meaning of story, 事 is usually read in the neutral tone: gùshi. The fully toned gùshì is a separate, rarer word meaning old practice.
故事 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.
故 gù · happening · 9 strokes
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事 shì · matter · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 故事.
| 没事儿 | méishìr | to have spare time; free from work |
| 事情 | shìqing | affair; matter; thing; business |
| 好事 | hǎoshì | good action, deed, thing or work (also sarcastic, "a fine thing indeed"); charity |
| 同事 | tóngshì | colleague; co-worker |
| 故意 | gùyì | deliberately; on purpose |
| 事实 | shìshí | fact |
| 事实上 | shìshíshang | in fact; in reality |
| 事件 | shìjiàn | incident; event |
| 事业 | shìyè | undertaking; project |
| 事故 | shìgù | accident |
| 本事 | běnshi | source material; original story |
| 从事 | cóngshì | to go for; to engage in |
Questions about 故事
What does 故事 mean?
故事 (gùshi) means "narrative; story; tale" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 故事?
故事 is made of 2 characters: 故 (9 strokes), 事 (8 strokes). That is 17 strokes in total.
Is 故事 an HSK word?
Yes. 故事 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What measure word goes with 故事?
Use 个 (gè) in everyday speech: 一个故事 (yí ge gùshi), a story. In more written style you may also see 则 (zé).
Is 故事 related to 故意 (gùyì)?
They share the character 故, but the meanings are different. 故事 means story, while 故意 means on purpose, as in 他不是故意的 (tā bú shì gùyì de), he didn't do it on purpose.