Where 告 comes from
To speak 口 with the force of an ox 牛
How to write 告 (gào, “to say”)
告 (gào), an HSK 2 character, means “to say”, “to announce” and “to denounce”. It is HSK 2 in the 2025 syllabus, up from level 1 in the 2021 standard. It is a character whose parts combine into its meaning. On its own it is an HSK 7-9 word; it also forms 告诉 (“to tell”), 广告 (“to advertise”) and 告别 (“to leave”). Japanese reads it koku, “revelation”, as a JLPT N3 kanji.
- Pinyin
- gào
- Strokes
- 7
- HSK
- 2
- Radical
- 口 (“mouth”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
As a top-bottom character it splits into 牛 (“cow”), strokes 1–4; 口 (“mouth”, the radical), strokes 5–7, written the top first.
- Left-falling stroke ㇒top leftdown and right → down and left
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑topdown and right → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑bottom leftdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕bottomrightwards → down and left
- Horizontal ㇐bottomrightwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 7 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| gào fourth tone | (bound form) to say; to tell; to announce; to report; to denounce; to file a lawsuit; to sue | — | 告诉 广告 告别 报告 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 2
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 2 word
- Words with it
- 110 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 告
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 告 | gào | to say; to tell HSK 7-9 |
| 告诉 告訴 | gàosu | to tell; to inform HSK 2 |
| 广告 廣告 | guǎnggào | to advertise; a commercial HSK 4 |
| 告别 告別 | gàobié | to leave; to part from HSK 5 |
| 报告 報告 | bàogào | to inform; to report HSK 5 |
| 转告 轉告 | zhuǎngào | to pass on; to communicate HSK 5 |
| 公告 | gōnggào | post; announcement HSK 6 |
| 警告 | jǐnggào | to warn; to admonish HSK 6 |
| 告知 | gàozhī | to inform; to notify HSK 7-9 |
| 被告 | bèigào | (law) the defendant; the accused HSK 7-9 |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Keep going
HSK 2, in list order: