Meaning of 沟
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- ditch
- gutter
- groove
- gully
- ravine
Measure word: 道
How to use 沟
On its own, 沟 means a ditch, gutter, or gully, and it often appears in compounds like 水沟 (shuǐgōu) and 排水沟 (páishuǐgōu). Its most common everyday use is in 沟通 (gōutōng), to communicate, where the idea is opening a channel between people. Example: 我们需要多沟通。(Wǒmen xūyào duō gōutōng.) We need to communicate more.
沟 has the water radical 氵 on the left, so think of a channel that carries water. The right side 勾 (gōu) gives the sound, so a ditch is a place where water gōu flows.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write the right side as 句 (jù) or 勺 (sháo) instead of 勾, which has a small stroke inside that looks like a hook. Also keep the first tone in 沟通 (gōutōng), not gǒu like 狗 (dog).
沟 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.
沟 gōu · ditch · 7 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 沟.
Questions about 沟
What does 沟 mean?
沟 (gōu) means "ditch; gutter" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 沟?
沟 is made of 1 character: 沟 (7 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 沟 an HSK word?
Yes. 沟 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 沟 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 沟 is written 溝.
What does 代沟 mean?
代沟 (dàigōu) means generation gap. It treats the difference between generations as a ditch that separates them.
Is 沟 used for natural valleys too?
Yes. 沟 can mean a gully or ravine, and many place names in northern China end in 沟, like 九寨沟 (Jiǔzhàigōu).