勾

gōu
#2,030 most
frequent character
to hook, to delineate
verb

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

勾 is a shorter form of 句. Its older shape had 丩, two ropes tangled, and 口, a mark that also supplied sound. The first sense was crooked or curvy, which grew to hook, to lure, and to check off. Read gòu, it again means crooked.

Drawn as: two ropes tangled

勾 as a component in other characters

meaning1 character
钩
sound4 characters
构购沟钩

Ask DeepSeek

Example Sentences

他用手指勾了一下白板。
tāyòng shǒuzhǐ gōule yīxià báibǎn 。
He hooked his finger at the whiteboard.
请勾出重要的部分。
qǐng gōuchū zhòngyào de bùfèn 。
Please delineate the important parts.
我勾画了这幅图的轮廓。
wǒ gōuhuà le zhè fú tú de lúnkuò 。
I hooked out the outline of this picture.

Same Characters, Different Readings

勾Gou1
surname Gou
勾gòu
used in 勾當|勾当[gou4dang4]

Words with similar meanings

钩gōu
to hook
A more direct term often used in fishing or physical hooking contexts.
描绘miáohuì
to delineate
More formal term often used in artistic or descriptive contexts.

Homophones

沟gōu
ditch, gutter, trench, gully
钩gōu
to hook

Words Starting With 勾

勾结gōu jié
to collude with; to collaborate with; to gang up with

Your word lists

Sign in to add this word to your private lists.