Character: 去 (qù) to go

去
Pinyin qù
Meaning to go; to remove
Radical 厶 繁體字 same
the written pattern 土, highlighted in red, is found in the character 去 (qù) to go 土

writing patterns, not components

n/acategory: n/a

Chinese character up down structurestructure: up down

5stroke count

HSK 1

Stroke order of the Chinese character 去 (qù) to go. There are 5 strokes, and the character is written from top to bottom

Breakdown

去 (qù) “to go” is formed by the component 土 (tǔ) “soil” on top and the radical 厶 at the bottom. Both of the elements are substitutes for obsolete parts, and the glyph origin of 去 (qù) is unknown.

qù
去
to go		 tǔ
土
soil		 zài
在
to be (in/at)		 zuò
坐
to sit
厶
component		 néng
能
can		 yún
云
cloud

Used as a component

去 (qù) “to go” can be either a phonetic or semantic component.

qù
去
to go		 jié
劫
to rob		 fǎ
法
law		 qiè
怯
timid

Used as a morpheme/word

As a word, 去 (qù) has two main meanings, “to go” and “to be going to (do).” As a component, 去 (qù) can indicate removing, losing, or something in the past.

Wordlist

  • HSK 1: 去 (qù) to go
  • HSK 2: 去年 (qùnián) last year
  • HSK 3: 过去 (guòqu) past
  • HSK 5: 去世 (qùshì) to pass away
  • HSK 5: 失去 (shīqù) to lose

How to pronounce

First, round up your lips as if you’re whistling, then say chee, as in “cheese.”

4th Pinyin Yale IPA
Initial q- ch [tɕʰ]
Final -ü yu [y]

Chinese character practice sheet

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