告

gào
#310 most
frequent character
to tell, to announce, to sue
verb

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

告 shows a container and an ox, a picture of prayer with sacrifice. The ox was important in ancient offerings. From 'pray' the meaning grew to 'tell, inform', then 'explain' and 'accuse'.

Drawn as: container; ox

告 as a component in other characters

sound11 characters
造靠浩酷皓窖鹄梏锆郜牿
picture1 character
诰

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Example Sentences

我想告诉你一个好消息。
wǒxiǎng gàosù nǐ yígè hǎoxiāoxī 。
I want to tell you some good news.
他要告这个公司。
tāyào gào zhègè gōngsī 。
He wants to sue this company.
我会在会议上向大家告知重要信息。
wǒ huì zài huìyì shàng xiàng dàjiā gàozhī zhòngyào xìnxī 。
I will announce important information to everyone at the meeting.

Words with similar meanings

述shù
to narrate
More formal and often used in literary contexts compared to 告.
通知tōngzhī
to notify
Specific to informing someone about official matters, more formal than 告.
告知gàozhī
to inform
Similar meaning but often implies a more formal or official context.

Words Starting With 告

告诉gào su
to tell; to inform; to let know
告别gào bié
to leave; to bid farewell to; to say good-bye to
告诫gào jiè
to warn; to admonish
告辞gào cí
to take leave

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