How to write 国 (guó, “country”)
国 (guó), an HSK 1 character, means “country” and “national”. China and Japan order its strokes differently: Chinese stroke 4, going rightwards, is the 5th in Japanese schools; Chinese stroke 5, going downwards, is the 4th in Japanese schools. On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 中国 (“China”), 出国 (“to go abroad”) and 外国 (“foreign country”). Japanese reads it koku, “country”, as a JLPT N5 kanji.
- Pinyin
- guó
- Strokes
- 8
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 囗 (“enclosure”)
- Traditional
- 國
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
As an enclosed character it splits into 囗 (“enclosure”, the radical), strokes 1–2 and 8; 玉 (“jade”), strokes 3–7, written with the strokes of the parts interleaved.
- top leftdownwards
- top leftrightwards → downwards
- toprightwards
- leftrightwards
- topdownwards
- bottom leftrightwards
- rightdown and right
- bottom leftrightwards
Two stroke orders
Japan and China order its strokes differently: 2 strokes sit in another place. Japanese 4 = Chinese 5; Japanese 5 = Chinese 4.
Trace it
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Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| guó second tone | country; nation; state; (bound form) national | 國 | 中国 出国 外国 国家 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 357 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 国
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 国 國 | guó | country; nation HSK 1 |
| 中国 中國 | Zhōngguó | China HSK 1 |
| 出国 出國 | chūguó | to go abroad; to leave the country HSK 2 |
| 外国 外國 | wàiguó | foreign country HSK 2 |
| 国家 國家 | guójiā | country; nation HSK 3 |
| 国籍 國籍 | guójí | nationality HSK 4 |
| 国际 國際 | guójì | international HSK 4 |
| 国画 國畫 | guóhuà | traditional Chinese painting HSK 5 |
| 国庆 國慶 | guóqìng | National Day HSK 5 |
| 国歌 國歌 | guógē | national anthem HSK 6 |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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HSK 1, in list order: