TongTong
Sign in

刮风 (guā fēng) — to be windy; the wind blows

Definition

A common weather expression meaning 'the wind blows / it is windy.' As a verb, 刮 can be used alone (刮大风 — strong wind blows) and takes 风 as its object, unlike separable verbs where the object goes between.

verb
to be windythe wind blows

Examples

  • 刮风，。
    Wài miàn zhèng zài guā fēng, wǒ men bié chū qù le.
    It's windy outside; let's not go out.
  • 刮风，。
    Jīn tiān guā fēng, jì de chuān jiàn wài tào.
    It's windy today; remember to wear a jacket.
  • ，。
    Zuó tiān guā le yì tiān fēng, lěng jí le.
    Yesterday the wind blew all day; it was extremely cold.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

刮guāblow
风fēngwind

刮 blow and 风 wind together mean the wind blows.

Characters in this word

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
刀刀dāoknife
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑刮guā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

刮 combines 刀, a knife, with 𠯑, which gives the sound.

Open 刮 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →
Appears in
Weather

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.