国 (guó): country, nation, state, (bound form) national
国 (guó) is a Chinese character meaning “country.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 囗 (structural) and 玉 (structural). It ranks #20 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 国 treasure 玉 within a country's borders 囗. Its radical form 囗 (enclosure) appears in many related characters such as 四 (sì, four), 回 (huí, to circle), 图 (tú, diagram).
Definitions
- country
- nation
- state
- (bound form) national
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTreasure 玉 within a country's borders 囗
Decomposition: ⿴囗玉 (layout: full-surround)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 国 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 国
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 国家noun | guó jiā | country | 3 |
| 中国noun | zhōng guó | China | 1 |
| 国王noun | guó wáng | king | 6 |
| 国际adjective/noun | guó jì | international | 4 |
| 外国noun | wài guó | foreign country | 2 |
| 联合国noun | lián hé guó | United Nations | 6 |
| 祖国noun | zǔ guó | motherland | 6 |
| 出国verb | chū guó | to go abroad | 2 |
| 国旗noun | guó qí | flag (of a country) | 6 |
| 国歌noun | guó gē | national anthem | 6 |
| 国籍noun | guó jí | nationality | 4 |
| 国庆noun | guó qìng | National Day | 5 |
| 国画noun | guó huà | traditional Chinese painting | 5 |
| 国宝noun | guó bǎo | national treasure | 6 |
| 国产adjective | guó chǎn | domestically produced | 6 |
| 国情noun | guó qíng | the characteristics and circumstances particular to a country | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 美国proper-noun | měi guó | United States |
| 英国proper-noun | yīng guó | United Kingdom (UK) |
| 法国proper-noun | fǎ guó | France |
| 德国proper-noun | dé guó | Germany |
| 全国adjective | quán guó | whole nation |
| 俄国proper-noun | é guó | Russia |
| 韩国proper-noun | hán guó | South Korea (Republic of Korea) |
| 帝国noun | dì guó | empire |
| 国会noun | guó huì | Parliament (UK) |
| 国土noun | guó tǔ | country's territory |
| 王国noun | wáng guó | kingdom |
| 国内noun | guó nèi | domestic |
| 国外noun | guó wài | abroad |
| 国防部noun | guó fáng bù | Defense Department |
| 泰国proper-noun | tài guó | Thailand |
国 appears in 124 compound words: 52 as the first character, 42 as the last, and 6 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 国 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (79)
Eight-Nation Alliance, involved in a military intervention in northern China in 1900
Showing 12 of 79 idioms containing 国.
Example Sentences
国庆节期间，全国各地都举行了丰富多彩的庆祝活动。
Guóqìng Jié qījiān, quánguó gèdì dōu jǔxíng le fēngfù duōcǎi de qìngzhù huódòng.
During the National Day holiday, colorful celebration activities were held throughout the country.
你还是曾经那个少年!苏翊鸣斩获中国队首金
nǐ hái shì céng jīng nā gě shǎo nián ! sū 翊 míng zhǎn huò zhōng guó duì shǒu jīn
You're still the same teenager! Su Yiming wins China's first gold.
冬奥会|全天综合:中国速滑再迎突破 中井亚美领跑花..
dōng ào huì quán tiān zèng gě zhōng guó sù huá zài yíng tū pò zhōng jǐng yà měi lǐng pǎo huā . .
Winter Olympics|All Day Roundup: China's speed skating breaks through again, and Ami Nakai leads the way in flower...
美国12月营建许可总数录得144.8万户,为...
měi guó yuè yíng jiàn xǔ kě zǒng shǔ lù dé . mò hù , wéi . . .
U.S. building permits totaled 1.448 million in December, a...
在春晚与沈腾马丽同框的机器人 在全国100多个地方..
zài chūn wǎn yú 沈 téng mǎ lí tóng kuàng de jī qì rén zài quán guó duō gě dì fāng . .
The robot that shared the frame with Shen Teng and Ma Li at the Spring Festival Gala In more than 100 places across the country...
新春走基层·驻外记者回乡手记丨在中国,感受火箭一飞..
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng zhù wài jì zhě huí xiāng shǒu jì 丨 zài zhōng guó , gǎn shòu huǒ jiàn yī fēi . .
The new year is the first time that a foreign correspondent has returned to his hometown....
你是从哪个国家来的？
Nǐ shì cóng nǎge guójiā lái de?
What country are you from?
你打算在这个国家待多久？
Nǐ dǎsuàn zài zhège guójiā dāi duōjiǔ?
How long do you plan to stay in this country?
你会去访问其他国家吗？
Nǐ huì qù fǎngwèn qítā guójiā ma?
Are you going to visit any other countries?
你是美国人还是法国人？
Nǐ shì Měiguórén háishi Fǎguórén?
Are you American or French?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 国 (guó) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 国 have?
What is the radical of 国?
What are the components of 国?
What are common words containing 国?
What characters sound the same as 国 (guó)?
Is 国 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 国 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.