谷 (gǔ): grain, corn, valley
谷 (gǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “grain.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 八 (structural). It ranks #1094 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 谷 water flowing 人 from a spring 口 through a valley 八. Its radical form 谷 (valley) appears in many related characters such as 豁 (huá, to play Chinese finger-guessing game).
Definitions
- grain
- corn
- valley
Etymology & Origin
ideographicWater flowing 人 from a spring 口 through a valley 八
Decomposition: ⿱八⿱人口 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 谷 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 峡谷 | xiá gǔ | canyon |
| 山谷 | shān gǔ | valley |
| 谷仓 | gǔ cāng | barn |
| 谷物 | gǔ wù | cereal |
| 曼谷 | màn gǔ | Bangkok, capital of Thailand |
| 低谷 | dī gǔ | valley |
| 谷底 | gǔ dǐ | valley floor |
| 布谷 | bù gǔ | cuckoo |
| 河谷 | hé gǔ | river valley |
| 幽谷 | yōu gǔ | deep valley |
| 布谷鸟 | bù gǔ niǎo | cuckoo (Cercococcyx spp.) |
| 硅谷 | guī gǔ | Silicon Valley |
| 谷子 | gǔ zi | millet |
| 进退维谷 | jìn tuì wéi gǔ | no room to advance or to retreat (idiom) |
| 谷歌 | gǔ gē | variant of 谷歌[Gu3 ge1] |
谷 appears in 100 compound words: 24 as the first character, 51 as the last, and 25 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 谷 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
lit. the sound of footsteps in a deserted valley (idiom); fig. sth hard to come by; sth wonderful and rare
lit. the sound of footsteps in a deserted valley (idiom); fig. sth hard to come by; sth wonderful and rare
Example Sentences
这个谷字在古汉语中有不同的含义。
zhè gě gǔ zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .
The character "谷" had different meanings in ancient Chinese.
(米兰冬奥会)综合消息:谷爱凌U型场地技巧卫冕 美国摘赛会最后一金
( mǐ lán dōng ào huì ) zèng gě xiāo xī : gǔ ài líng U xíng chǎng dì jì qiǎo wèi 冕 měi guó zhāi sài huì zuì hòu yī jīn
(Milan Winter Olympics) Comprehensive news: Gu Ailing defended her U-shaped track skills and won the last gold medal of the United States
(米兰冬奥会)谷爱凌、李方慧摘得自由式滑雪女子U池金、银...
( mǐ lán dōng ào huì ) gǔ ài líng , lǐ fāng huì zhāi dé zì yóu shì huá xuě nǚ zǐ U chí jīn , yín . . .
(Milan Winter Olympics) Gu Ailing and Li Fanghui won gold and silver in the women's U pool in freestyle skiing...
冬奥/新华社:谷爱凌,终于等到妳
dōng ào xīn huá shè : gǔ ài líng , zhōng yú děng dào 妳
Winter Olympics/Xinhua News Agency: Gu Ailing, finally waiting for you
冬奥—谷爱凌夺金后得悉外婆离世 记者会上哭说“昨...
dōng ào — gǔ ài líng duó jīn hòu dé xī wài pó lí shì jì zhě huì shàng kū shuō zuó . . .
Winter Olympics - After Gu Ailing won the gold medal, she learned of her grandmother's death and cried at the press conference, "Yesterday...
谷爱凌李方慧包揽冠亚军,中国体育代表团创历...
gǔ ài líng lǐ fāng huì bāo lǎn guàn yà jūn , zhōng guó tǐ yù dài biǎo tuán chuàng lì . . .
Gu Ailing and Li Fanghui won the championship and runner-up, and the Chinese sports delegation set a record...
你得在涉谷换乘火车。
Nǐ děi zài Shègǔ huànchéng huǒchē.
You have to change trains at Shibuya.
黑麦被称为贫穷的谷物。
Hēimài bèi chēngwéi pínqióng de gǔwù.
Rye was called the grain of poverty.
曼谷是泰国的首都。
Màngǔ shì Tàiguó de shǒudū.
Bangkok is Thailand's capital.
人们把这种鸟叫做布谷鸟。
Rénmen bǎ zhèzhǒng niǎo jiàozuò bùgǔ niǎo.
People call this kind of bird a cuckoo.
Character Family
谷 Radical Family — Characters sharing the valley radical
Related Characters
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 谷 (gǔ) mean in Chinese?
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What are the components of 谷?
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What characters sound the same as 谷 (gǔ)?
Is 谷 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 谷 with real-time feedback
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