去 (qù) · to go, to leave

Meanings

1 to go
2 to leave

Characters

去

qù

to go; to leave

Examples

HSK 1

我去学校。

Wǒ qù xuéxiào.

I'm going to school.

HSK 1

你去哪儿？

Nǐ qù nǎr?

Where are you going?

HSK 1

我们去吃饭吧。

Wǒmen qù chīfàn ba.

Let's go eat.

Tips

grammar

去 implies movement away from the speaker. Compare with 来 (to come), which implies movement toward the speaker.

usage

去 can be used as a complement after another verb to indicate direction away: 回去 (go back), 出去 (go out).

Components

radical

厶 sī

private; cave (archaic)

Bottom-right 厶-shape is the indexing radical - originally a cave-dwelling or storage pit. With the person-shape on top, the whole character is 'person leaving the dwelling' - the original 'depart / go' image. Modern indexing under 厶 preserves this ancient compound.

semantic

土 tǔ

earth (here corruption of 大)

Top component looks like 土 'earth' but is a corruption of 大 'person standing'. In oracle bone forms, 去 showed a person walking out of a doorway or pit-dwelling. The modern 土-shape is purely visual - strict etymology says 'person', the simplified eye sees 'earth'.