构 (gòu): to construct

Meanings

1 to construct
2 to form
3 structure

Characters

构

gòu

to construct / to form / structure

Examples

HSK 4

这是一个专门从事科学研究的机构。

Zhè shì yīgè zhuānmén cóngshì kēxué yánjiū de jīgòu.

This is an institution that specializes in scientific research.

HSK 6

他的行为已经构成了犯罪。

Tā de xíngwéi yǐjīng gòuchéng le fànzuì.

His behavior already constitutes a crime.

HSK 7-9

这台机器的每个部件都构成了一个精密的结构。

Zhè tái jīqì de měi gè bùjiàn dōu gòuchéng le yīgè jīngmì de jiégòu.

Every part of this machine forms a precise structure.

Tips

memory

木 (wood) + 勾 (hook) - hooking wood together to build.

Components

radical

木 mù

tree; wood

Left tree radical - a pictograph of a tree with roots and branches, here in its compressed left-side form. The indexing element. Anchors 构 in the wood-construction family with 桥 (bridge), 柱 (pillar), 楼 (multi-storey building), 架 (framework). Buildings, frames, and structures were historically made of wood; the radical signals that this character names making or fitting things together.

phonetic

勾 gōu

to hook; link

Right 勾 supplies the sound - gōu drifting to gòu through tone shift. Helpfully, 勾 means 'to hook, to link' - exactly the action behind constructing something: hooking pieces together. The phonetic doubles as a semantic clue. Replaces the traditional 構 which used the more elaborate 冓 (interlocking) on the right; the simplification keeps the same meaning with a simpler graph.