顾客 (gù kè) — customer, client | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

顾客 refers to someone who buys from a store or business. 客人 is a guest or visitor; 客户 is a business client (B2B); 用户 is a user of a product or service.

noun

customerclient

Measure word · 位

Examples

顾客。
Jīn tiān diàn lǐ lái le shí wèi gù kè.
Ten customers came to the store today.
顾客。
Wǒ men rèn zhēn dì fú wù měi yí wèi gù kè.
We serve every customer carefully.
顾客。
Zhè jiā shāng diàn duì gù kè hěn yǒu hǎo.
This store is very friendly to customers.

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.

顾 (visit) and 客 (guest) describe a guest who visits.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 顧; 顾 is its simplified writing.

雇頁顧

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yè

Sound part声符shēngfú

雇

雇gù顧gù

Same sound today

The traditional form 顧 combines 雇 as a sound part and 頁 as a meaning part; 顾 is the simplified form of 顧.

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

宀各客

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀miánroof

Sound part声符shēngfú

各

各gè客kè

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 客, 宀 is a roof and 各 gives the sound; the character meant a guest.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 4 HSK 2.0 Level 4 Social Roles & Status 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 4 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.