Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

to go; to leave; to remove

Chinese: 离开或到别处。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “qu” becomes a different word in each tone. 去 is the 4th tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.

Stroke Order

Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.

Common Words

  • 出去chū qùto go out
  • 去年qù niánlast year
  • 回去huí quto return; to go back
  • 进去jìn qùto go in
  • 过去guò qù(in the) past; former; previous; to go over

Example Sentence

周末我想去海边。Zhōu mò wǒ xiǎng qù hǎi biān.I want to go to the seaside this weekend.

周末Zhōu mòweekendIxiǎngto think (about)to go海边hǎi biāncoast

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

Early forms show a person leaving a doorway or pit: to depart — ‘to go, to leave, to remove, past’.

A way to remember it

Stepping away from where you were — to go.

Easy to confuse with

  • yún‘Cloud’: a similar lower curl, but topped by two short strokes, not 土.