沟 gōu ditch
ditch; drain; gutter; narrow waterway
How to remember 沟: 氵 water + 勾 to hook = ditch. The football lands in muddy water by the road, and grandpa tries to hook it out of the ditch with his cane.
Component breakdown
沟 = 氵 water + 勾 to hook
- 氵 water
- 勾 to hook
The football lands in muddy water by the road, and grandpa tries to hook it out of the ditch with his cane.
How it is used
- Bound morpheme for a ditch/channel, but its everyday value is almost entirely metaphorical.
- 沟通 gōutōng is an extremely common word meaning "to communicate" (between people) - 我们需要好好沟通 wǒmen xūyào hǎohǎo gōutōng, "we need to communicate properly" - literally "to open a channel through".
- 代沟 dàigōu "generation gap" is another figurative use worth knowing: 我和爸妈有代沟 wǒ hé bàmā yǒu dàigōu, "my parents and I have a generation gap".