Language/Mandarin-chinese/Vocabulary/告-gào-tell

告 gào tell in Mandarin Chinese

Definition

Radical is 口 kŏu “mouth”. This radical is referred to colloquially as 口字底 kŏuzìdĭ “bottom made up of the character 口.” One “tells” 告 people things with one’s “mouth” 口. The other component in 告 is 牛 niú “ox”. The character 告 itself serves as a phonetic in other characters, e.g., in 晧 hào “bright” or “brilliant.” Distinguish 告 from 先 xiān, 走 zŏu, and simplified 占 zhàn.

Examples

• 线 (線) xiàn wire, line, thread [N]
• 占线 (佔線) zhànxiàn be busy (of a telephone line) [VO]

Sources

Book: Intermediate Written Chinese by Cornelius C. Kubler

Other Lessons

• 乐(樂) lè cheerful, happy, joyful
• 许(許) xŭ permit
• 及 jí and; reach
• 运(運) yùn move, transport
• 犬 quăn “canine, dog”
• 空 kōng empty; air, sky
• 伤(傷) shāng wound, injury; injure, hurt
• 责(責) zé duty, responsibility
• 紧(緊) jĭn tight, tense
• 心 xīn
• 合 hé be in accord with
• 医(醫) yī medical doctor; heal
• 教 jiào teach; teaching; religion jiāo teach
• 非 fēi not; Africa
• 排 pái row, line