Definition
顾 (gù) has two main senses: 'to take into consideration / attend to' (often with 不 or 只, e.g., 不顾 'disregard') and 'to look after' (family/responsibilities). Compared to 照顾 (zhàogù, 'take care of' someone), 顾 is broader and suggests attending amid competing demands; 顾及 (gùjí) explicitly means 'take into account (multiple factors)', while 顾 alone is more general and commonly appears in fixed structures like 只顾 or 不顾.
verb
to take into considerationto attend to (often used with 不 or 只)to look afterto care for (family or responsibilities)
Easily confused
- 雇gùsound-aliketo hire, to employ
- 古gǔsound-alikeancient; old (from the distant past)
- 股gǔsound-alike(classifier) for long winding things (rope, river, strand)
- 鼓gǔsound-alike(noun) drum
- 故gùsound-aliketherefore, hence, so
Examples
- ，。Tā bú gù fùmǔ de fǎnduì, jiānchí le zìjǐ de xuǎnzé.He ignored his parents' opposition and insisted on his own choice.
- ，。Nǐ zhǐ gù zìjǐ, tài zìsī le.You only care about yourself — that's too selfish.
- 顾，。Tā jì yào gōngzuò yòu yào gù jiā, fēicháng xīnkǔ.She has to work and also take care of the family — it's very hard.
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