祖国 (zǔ guó) — motherland; one's native land

Definition

A formal, patriotic word for 'motherland' — one's country of origin, used in speeches, writing, and emotional contexts. Not for casual 'my country' in everyday talk.

noun
motherlandone's native land

Examples

  • 祖国。
    Měi gè gōng mín dōu yīng gāi rè ài zì jǐ de zǔ guó.
    Every citizen should love their motherland.
  • 祖国，。
    Tā lí kāi zǔ guó yǐ jīng shí nián le, fēi cháng xiǎng jiā.
    He left his motherland ten years ago and misses home very much.
  • 祖国。
    Zhè shǒu gē chàng chū le duì zǔ guó de shēn qíng.
    This song expresses deep feelings for the motherland.

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.

祖zǔancestor
国guócountry

祖 “ancestor” and 国 “country” together mean one's ancestral country.

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
示示shì
Sound part声符shēngfú
且
且qiě祖zǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

祖 was made by adding 示 to 且, and 且 gives the sound.

Open 祖 →

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 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Government & PoliticsSociety & Public Life

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