挂 (guà): to hang, to suspend (from a hook etc), to hang up (the phone), (of a line) to be dead
挂 (guà) is a Chinese character meaning “to hang.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 圭 (phonetic). It ranks #1226 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 挂 hand. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 找 (zhǎo, to look for).
Definitions
- to hang
- to suspend (from a hook etc)
- to hang up (the phone)
- (of a line) to be dead
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 挂 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 挂
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 牵挂 | qiān guà | to worry about |
| 挂念 | guà niàn | to feel anxious about |
| 悬挂 | xuán guà | to suspend |
| 挂毯 | guà tǎn | tapestry |
| 挂钩 | guà gōu | to couple |
| 挂号信 | guà hào xìn | registered letter |
| 挂彩 | guà cǎi | to decorate for festive occasions |
| 挂心 | guà xīn | to worry |
| 挂名 | guà míng | to attach sb's name to (a role) |
| 挂车 | guà chē | trailer |
| 挂牌 | guà pái | lit. to hang up a plate |
| 挂锁 | guà suǒ | padlock |
| 记挂 | jì guà | (dialect) to keep thinking about (sth) |
| 挂历 | guà lì | wall calendar |
| 倒挂 | dào guà | lit. to hang upside down |
挂 appears in 90 compound words: 61 as the first character, 21 as the last, and 18 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 挂 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
lit. to hang one's books on cow horns (idiom); fig. to be diligent in one's studies
Example Sentences
请把外套挂在衣架上，不要乱扔。
Qǐng bǎ wàitào guà zài yījià shàng, bùyào luàn rēng.
Please hang your coat on the hanger; don't throw it around.
...尖峰期、大型活动常塞爆 民众连署盼车厢加挂至6节
. . . jiān fēng qī , dà xíng huó dòng cháng sāi bào mín zhòng lián shǔ pàn chē xiāng jiā guà zhì 6 jié
... During peak periods and large-scale events, people jointly signed to hope that the carriage would be increased to 6 sections
电话一接就挂恐被盯上!Whoscall揭内幕:年逾8...
diàn huà yī jiē jiù guà kǒng bèi dīng shàng ! jiē nèi mù nián yú . . .
As soon as the phone is answered, I am afraid of being targeted! Whoscall reveals the inside story: over 8 years old...
的士车队难敌网约平台 业界洽谈高德滴滴“挂单”求生
de shì chē duì nán dí wǎng yuē píng tái yè jiè qià tán gāo dé dī dī guà dān qiú shēng
The taxi fleet is difficult to compete with the online ride-hailing platform, and the industry negotiates AutoNavi Didi's "pending order" to survive
... macOS 26.3 Tahoe 无法挂载外接磁盘
. . . . wú fǎ guà zài wài jiē cí pán
macOS 26.3 Tahoe cannot mount external disks
惊吓画面|12岁女童跌出滑雪缆车吊挂8米高空 直坠救援网外受伤
jīng hè huà miàn 1 2 suì nǚ tóng diē chū huá xuě lǎn chē diào guà 8 mǐ gāo kōng zhí zhuì jiù yuán wǎng wài shòu shāng
A 12-year-old girl fell out of the ski lift and was suspended 8 meters above the rescue net and was injured
把那幅画挂到墙上。
Bǎ nà fú huà guà dào qiáng shàng.
Hang that picture on the wall.
你看似对这世间已了无牵挂。
Nǐ kànsì duì zhè shìjiān yǐ le wú qiānguà.
You look as if you don't have a care in the world.
他把一盏灯挂在了天花板上。
Tā bǎ yī zhǎn dēng guà zài le tiānhuābǎn shàng.
He hung a lamp from the ceiling.
这艘船挂着美国国旗。
Zhè sōu chuán guà zhe Měiguó guóqí.
The ship was flying the American flag.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 挂 (guà) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 挂 and 下?
How many strokes does 挂 have?
What is the radical of 挂?
What are the components of 挂?
What are common words containing 挂?
What characters sound the same as 挂 (guà)?
Is 挂 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 挂 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.