渠 (qú): how can it be that?, (artificial) stream, canal, drain, ditch, (literary) big, great
渠 (qú) is a Chinese character meaning “how can it be that?.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 洰 (structural) and 木 (structural). It ranks #2250 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 渠 a ditch 洰 made of wood 木; 洰 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- how can it be that?
- (artificial) stream
- canal
- drain
- ditch
- (literary) big
- great
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA ditch 洰 made of wood 木; 洰 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿱洰木 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 渠 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 渠
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 水到渠成 | shuǐ dào qú chéng | lit. where water flows, a canal is formed (idiom) |
| 沟渠 | gōu qú | channel |
| 水渠 | shuǐ qú | canal |
| 灌渠 | guàn qú | irrigation channel |
| 五家渠市 | wǔ jiā qú shì | Wujyachü shehiri (Wujiaqu city) or Wǔjiāqú subprefecture level city in Ili Kazakh autonomous prefecture in north Xinj... |
| 五家渠 | wǔ jiā qú | Wujyachü shehiri (Wujiaqu city) or Wǔjiāqú subprefecture level city in Ili Kazakh autonomous prefecture in north Xinj... |
| 尾水渠道 | wěi shuǐ qú dào | outflow channel |
| 排水渠 | pái shuǐ qú | drainage |
| 明渠 | míng qú | (open, uncovered) water channel |
| 石渠阁议 | shí qú gé yì | cabinet meeting in 51 BC that established the five classics of Confucianism 五經|五经[Wu3 jing1] as state canon |
| 干渠 | gàn qú | trunk canal |
| 郑国渠 | zhèng guó qú | Zhengguo canal, a 150 km long irrigation canal in Shaanxi built in 264 BC |
| 石渠县 | shí qú xiàn | Sêrxü county (Tibetan: ser shul rdzong) in Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture 甘孜藏族自治州[Gan1 zi1 Zang4 zu2 zi4 zhi4 zh... |
| 石渠 | shí qú | stone channel (e.g. drain) |
| 石渠阁 | shí qú gé | cabinet meeting in 51 BC that established the five classics of Confucianism 五經|五经[Wu3 jing1] as state canon |
渠 appears in 24 compound words: 17 as the first character, 58 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 渠 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
孩子们喜欢在清澈的渠边玩耍，捉小鱼小虾。
hái zǐ men xǐ huān zài qīng 澈 de qú biān wán shuǎ , zhuō xiǎo yú xiǎo xiā .
Children love to play by the clear canal, catching little fish and shrimp.
...enheimer会议上发言:战略转向药房渠道
. . . e n h e i m e r huì yì shàng fā yán : zhàn lüè zhuǎn xiàng yào fáng qú dào
...spoke at the Enheimer conference: A strategic shift toward the pharmacy channel
畅通科创企业融资渠道——做好“开局之年”经济工作
chàng tōng kē chuàng qǐ yè róng zī qú dào — — zuò hǎo kāi jú zhī nián jīng jì gōng zuò
Opening Up Financing Channels for Innovation-Driven Enterprises—Laying a Solid Foundation for Economic Work in This “Pivotal Year”
影/郑习会何时成行?尹乃菁:水到渠成时
yǐng zhèng xí huì hé shí chéng háng ? 尹 nǎi 菁 : shuǐ dào qú chéng shí
Video: When Will the Zheng-Xi Meeting Take Place? Yin Nai-ching: When the Time Is Right
新春走基层丨守渠人24小时在岗,守护一泓清水永续北上
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng 丨 shǒu qú rén 2 4 xiǎo shí zài gǎng , shǒu hù yī 泓 qīng shuǐ yǒng xù běi shàng
New Year's grassroots level丨Canal guards are on duty 24 hours a day to protect a flood of clean water and go north forever
网络是一个相通的渠道，而不是物质或具体的活动。
Wǎngluò shì yī gè xiāngtōng de qúdào, ér bù shì wùzhì huò jùtǐ de huódòng.
It’s a communication medium, not a substance or specific activity.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 渠 (qú) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 渠 (qú)?
Is 渠 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 渠 with real-time feedback
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