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故意 (gù yì) — deliberately, on purpose

Definition

故意 is the everyday adverb for 'on purpose, deliberately' — usually paired with something wrong or annoying. 刻意 adds a sense of careful, conscious effort (often with a negative tone).

adverb
deliberatelyon purpose

Examples

  • 故意。
    Tā gù yì bù gēn wǒ shuō huà.
    He deliberately doesn't talk to me.
  • 故意。
    Tā gù yì bǎ mén guān shàng le.
    She deliberately closed the door.
  • 故意。
    Wǒ zhī dào nǐ shì gù yì de.
    I know you did it on purpose.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

故gùdeliberate
意yìintention

故 (deliberate) and 意 (intention) form a deliberate intention.

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
攵Written in full as攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ故gù
Same sound today

故 uses 古 for the sound and 攵, written in full as 攴, for the meaning.

Open 故 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 4Will & Intention2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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