告 gào
- Strokes
- 7
- Radical
- 口 — mouth
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
告状
gàozhuàng
to complain to a superior; to tell tales
Characters in this word
状 zhuàng
- Strokes
- 7
- Radical
- 犬 — dog
- Made of
- 丬 half of tree trunk 犬 dog
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
Example phrases
- 他又跑去老师那里告状了。 Tā yòu pǎo qù lǎoshī nàlǐ gàozhuàng le. He has gone running to the teacher to tell on someone again.
- 弟弟打碎了杯子，姐姐马上向妈妈告状。 Dìdi dǎsuì le bēizi, jiějie mǎshàng xiàng māma gàozhuàng. The younger brother broke a cup, and his older sister immediately told Mum on him.
- 有事好好商量，别动不动就去领导那里告状。 Yǒu shì hǎohāo shāngliang, bié dòngbudòng jiù qù lǐngdǎo nàlǐ gàozhuàng. Talk things over properly; don't run to the boss to complain every time something happens.
Related words
- 告诉 gàosu to tell
- 广告 guǎnggào advertisement
- 报告 bàogào report; speech
- 告别 gàobié to say goodbye
- 转告 zhuǎngào to pass on a message
- 公告 gōnggào official notice
- 警告 jǐnggào to warn; warning
- 被告 bèigào defendant
- 告 gào to tell; to sue; to accuse
- 告辞 gàocí to take one's leave; to say goodbye
- 告诫 gàojiè to warn; to admonish
- 告示 gàoshi notice; public announcement