钩 (gōu): to hook
钩 (gōu) is a Chinese character meaning “to hook.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 钅 (structural) and 勾 (structural). It ranks #2198 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 钩 a metal 钅 hook 勾; 勾 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 钅 (metal) appears in many related characters such as 钱 (qián, money), 错 (cuò, wrong, mistake), 钟 (zhōng, clock, bell).
Definitions
- to hook
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA metal 钅 hook 勾; 勾 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰钅勾 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 钩 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 上钩 | shàng gōu | to take the bait |
| 钩子 | gōu zi | hook |
| 鱼钩 | yú gōu | fishhook |
| 挂钩 | guà gōu | to couple |
| 吊钩 | diào gōu | suspended hook |
| 钓钩 | diào gōu | fishhook |
| 脱钩 | tuō gōu | to cut ties |
| 搭钩 | dā gōu | a hook |
| 衣钩 | yī gōu | clothes hook |
| 拉后钩儿 | lā hòu gōu r | (dialect) to leave unfinished business |
| 上钩儿 | shàng gōu r | erhua variant of 上鉤|上钩[shang4 gou1] |
| 后钩儿 | hòu gōu r | erhua variant of 後鉤|后钩[hou4 gou1] |
| 钩心斗角 | gōu xīn dòu jiǎo | variant of 勾心鬥角|勾心斗角[gou1 xin1 dou4 jiao3] |
| 太公钓鱼，愿者上钩 | tài gōng diào yú , yuàn zhě shàng gōu | Jiang Ziya is fishing, if you want take the hook (idiom, refers to early sage 姜子牙 fishing with no bait and the hook a... |
| 衣钩儿 | yī gōu r | erhua variant of 衣鉤|衣钩[yi1 gou1] |
钩 appears in 65 compound words: 25 as the first character, 38 as the last, and 37 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 钩 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
请用挂钩把衣服挂在墙上，节省空间。
Qǐng yòng guàgōu bǎ yīfu guà zài qiáng shang, jiéshěng kōngjiān.
Please use hooks to hang clothes on the wall to save space.
基隆台风假脱钩双北 童子玮:乐见谢国梁再跟进政见
jī lóng tái fēng jiǎ tuō gōu shuāng běi tóng zǐ 玮 : lè jiàn xiè guó liáng zài gēn jìn zhèng jiàn
Keelung's Typhoon Leave Policy Diverges from Taipei and New Taipei; Tong Tzu-wei: Pleased to See Hsieh Kuo-liang Follow Through on His Campaign Promise
...!42年首次动用外汇基金6千亿 港元与脱钩美元倒计时?
. . . ! nián shǒu cì dòng yòng wài huì jī jīn qiān yì gǎng yuán yǔ tuō gōu měi yuán dǎo jì shí ?
...! The countdown to the first use of the exchange fund of 600 billion Hong Kong dollars and the depegging of the US dollar in 42 years?
把你的外套挂在钩子上。
Bǎ nǐ de wàitào guà zài gōuzi shàng.
Hang your coat on the hook.
汤姆将他的衬衣挂在了挂钩上。
Tāngmǔ jiāng tā de chènyī guà zài le guàgōu shàng.
Tom hung his shirt on a coat hook.
齐里在车库里装上了用来挂园艺工具的挂钩。
Qí lǐ zài chēkù lǐ zhuāng shàng le yònglái guà yuányì gōngjù de guàgōu.
Ziri put up hooks for gardening tools in the garage.
Character Family
钅 Radical Family — Characters sharing the metal radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 钩 (gōu) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 钩 have?
What is the radical of 钩?
What are the components of 钩?
What are common words containing 钩?
What characters sound the same as 钩 (gōu)?
Is 钩 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 钩 with real-time feedback
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