跟斗

gēndou
noun #32,184

Measure Word

Meanings

  1. 1 somersault
  2. 2 fall; tumble
  3. 3 setback; failure

Examples

HSK 4
Háizi zài cǎodì shàng fān le hǎojǐ gè gēndou.
The kid did several somersaults on the grass.
HSK 5
Tā bù xiǎoxīn shuāi le yī gè gēndou.
He took a tumble by accident.
HSK 7-9
Zài shēngyì shàng zāi le gè dà gēndou.
He took a big tumble in business.

Tips

usage
Pair with verbs: 翻跟斗 'do a somersault' (deliberate), 摔跟斗 'take a tumble' (accidental), 栽跟斗 'come a cropper' (literal or figurative - fail badly). 栽跟斗 is the idiom you'll hear when someone screws up at work or in a deal. 跟头 (gēntou) is an interchangeable variant.
culture
孙悟空一个跟斗十万八千里 - Sun Wukong covers 108,000 li in a single 跟斗 (a 筋斗云 'cloud somersault'). The phrase is so famous that 'one somersault' is a stock comparison for absurd speed in Chinese.

Stroke Order

gēn
dǒu