苟 (gǒu): (literary) if indeed

Meanings

1 (literary) if indeed
2 careless; negligent (bound form)
3 temporarily (bound form)

Characters

苟

gǒu

if; careless; temporarily

Examples

苟能坚持，必有所成。

Gǒu néng jiānchí, bì yǒusuǒ chéng.

If one can persevere, there will surely be achievement.

做事不能苟且了事。

Zuòshì bùnéng gǒu qiě liǎoshì.

One should not do things in a careless, slapdash way.

Tips

usage

苟 is mostly literary. Common compounds: 一丝不苟 (meticulous), 苟且 (careless/sloppy), 苟活 (to survive by any means). Also a surname (Gǒu).

Components

radical

艹 cǎo

grass; plant (top radical)

Top grass radical — the standard 3-stroke compressed form of 艸. Indexes 苟 in the plant family, though 苟 has drifted far from its botanical origins. Originally it named a particular weed (a kind of dog-grass); the link survives only in this indexing radical.

phonetic

句 jù

sentence; phrase

Bottom 句 supplies the sound through a significant drift: jù → gǒu. Same phonetic appears in 狗 dog, 钩 hook, 拘 detain — the gōu/gǒu family. Pure phonetic role; the "sentence" meaning of 句 plays no part in 苟’s senses of "careless, just barely, if indeed."