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出国 (chū guó) — to go abroad

Definition

出国 means 'to go abroad' — leaving your country to go to another. Unlike 出去 (just go out), it always crosses a national border; 留学 specifically means studying abroad.

verb
to go abroad

Examples

  • 出国。
    Tā míng nián chū guó xué xí.
    He will go abroad to study next year.
  • 。
    Wǒ chū guò yí cì guó.
    I have been abroad once.
  • 出国。
    Tā xià ge yuè chū guó gōng zuò.
    He will go abroad to work next month.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

出chūleave; go out
国guócountry

出 means to leave, and 国 means country; together they mean to leave the country.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

Open 出 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 2Travel & Tourism

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